Happy Monday!
Welcome to our weekly Christina Zigouras and Voices of Malvern newsletter.
It’s been a quieter week this week as I was forced to take a break, but that didn’t stop me from speaking to as many residents, small businesses and other Victorians as possible, including finding out some not-so-fun-facts about Victorian workers that relate directly to housing affordability, the care economy and how tough it is to make a living in some industries.
Here’s what’s been happening on the campaign trail this week.
What I've been hearing around Malvern & surrounds
The most talked-about issues this week were:
Every person’s experience and perspective has not only helped determine my policy agenda, but will help me on the job, if I’m lucky enough to represent Malvern.
What Voters Want: A few chats I’ve had this week
Carol - Affordable Housing
Carol, who is originally from the Philippines, is happy working at our local hospital, where she has been for the past eight years.
Things have got harder for her since becoming a mum, however, because she and her husband were forced to move out of their Caulfield South rental due to rent increases.
They now live in Clyde, the growing suburb past Dandenong. Being familiar with her current workplace make her reluctant to leave, but the 60-minute commute (on a good day) is taking its toll. Carol relies on friends as emergency contacts, and like many immigrants, she has no family support here.
Our state government must make affordable housing an absolute priority so that essential workers and others like Carol can live near their places of work. I am advocating for well-designed and planned medium-density housing to increase the housing stock while preserving the character of the neighbourhoods we live in.
Oreg - Cost of Living
This is Oreg. He is a professional driver, who works for Didi, Uber and in the past as a driver for hire and taxi driver. I enjoy chatting with drivers; they provide a wealth of insight and are basically a data bank of societal conversations, past and present.
Our conversation started on the general cost of living, then delved into the Uber business model.
As a driver, Oreg ‘charges’ about $30 per hour to Uber. As a ‘contractor’, he is then required to deduct the GST portion, fuel, maintenance fees,insurance charges and vehicledepreciation; an amount he equates to 36%. This leaves him an hourly wage of $19.20 per hour. Despite working a majority of hours for this contractor, he is not paid any entitlements, which under fair work he would be entitled to using the 80/20 rule.
Oreg reckons there should be a government inquiry into the share ride business for several reasons:
- Even though drivers can choose when and how often they work, in practice they work 40+ hours a week, and by any other measure or definition, they are not contractors.
- Unlike taxis who work to a meter rate, Uber drivers charge ‘surge’ rates (i.e. fares rise as demand rises). However, Oreg doesn’t get paid any more during this surge – Uber keeps the margin.
- Safe Transport Victoria regulates the industry under the scope of the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Act 2017 (Victoria).
- In the United States, a Consumer Reports investigation was published in June into how Uber and Lyft set ride prices in the United States. 174 volunteers across 18 states were recruited, following essentially the same journeys at the same time. It found that customers were quoted substantially different prices. This is due to algorithms.
- The ACCC in Australia took Uber to the Federal Court in 2022 for othermatters, closely related to this, but not the same.
Oreg says the industry is “shit” and many drivers are getting out as you “just can’t make a living”.
When I asked if I could take his photo, he was happy to share it as he wanted more people to know about Uber and its ‘unfair’ dealings.
“We are not a colony of the US. We should have our call centres here; we should employ people here. I love Australia.”
“Stop smiling Oreg”, I said. “You’re meant to be grumpy!”
“I can’t help it. You have to be happy.”
We need to fight for people like Carol and Oreg.
We can do better than this; we MUST do better than this.
Malvern has a choice
Every conversation I've had this week reinforces why I'm running.
After generations of being considered a safe seat, Malvern has a choice this election.
We can continue to be represented by people who ultimately answer to a party room, or elect an independent who answers to the people of Malvern.
I'll keep listening, looking at the evidence and working on practical solutions to make Victoria safer, more affordable, prosperous and sustainable for our kids.
Thank you for being part of it.
Have a great week,
Christina
Christina Zigouras & Voices of Malvern