By Kate Lockyer
As a senior policy advisor for the Queensland Government, Labor candidate for Clayfield Belle Brookfield (pictured) is well-versed in the world of government policy.
Currently she works in transport policy, advising Transport Minister Bart Mellish, but has also worked in minerals policy and at the CSIRO in renewable energy.
“I have always had an inherent desire to work in government; I think you can make such a difference in government, and that’s my motivation for putting my hand up to run in Clayfield as well,” Ms Brookfield said.
“I’ve noticed there is a real desire out there for a fresh perspective and some fresh energy.
“We need someone that’s focused on things like housing and services, access to healthcare, renewable energy and climate change, is what I’m hearing from people, and these are things I really care about as well,” she said.
Ms Brookfield, a renter in Albion, believes that the biggest issue for the Clayfield electorate is housing.
“I’ve lived in about 13 different rentals in my life, so I know how difficult it can be to feel that sense of connection to where you live, and to have that stability and comfort,” she said.
She said it is not just renters but people who are recognising their kids will struggle to afford a home who have mentioned this issue to her.
Her plan to fix this is by creating more supply.
“It really comes down to supply, at the end of the day. More houses, bringing down the prices, making sure rights for renters are balanced at the same time,” she said.
The question of transport for Northshore Hamilton is “a ticking time bomb” Ms Brookfield hopes to solve with a transport mobility study, where planning work is done with a precinct-based approach, rather than doing one project at a time.
“Northshore Hamilton is such a growth area, if I am fortunate enough to be elected, I would be really focused on improving those transport connections and public transport with better planning and more frequency of services,” she said.
Ms Brookfield is passionate about protecting the climate and would “really love to see more community batteries” that would allow communities to store the energy they get from solar panels.
“We’ve got a lot of vanadium in Queensland, and it is used to build grid-sized batteries, that can power whole communities off one battery – so Energy Queensland is doing a lot of trials of that technology,” she said.
“Storage is an important component – you can have all the solar in the world, but if you can’t store it, you still need an alternative source for nighttime.”
When it comes to crime prevention, Ms Brookfield said she finds the LNP’s approach “really divisive” and believes local members should be finding solutions and working with the community.
“The Miles plan is working, it’s fully funded and costed… it’s focused on intervention, rehabilitation and detention, working with education, health services, community services in the first instance to keep people out of detention if possible.”
