Amit Patel for Monash

Meet Amit Patel for Monash
Glen Waverley Ward

If you live in the Glen Waverley ward area of Monash, here is why you may consider to vote for Amit.

What are the top priorities in your area that you will take care after you get elected?

There are 5 key objectives for which I have nominated myself for the Local Council Election 2020 to represent our community of Glen Waverley Ward. 

  • Active voice and participation in all matters that are important to the community such as rates reduction, assistance to the senior citizens, simplified waste collections, better recreational facilities and parks. 
  • Promote a healthy lifestyle by encouraging open space with fitness equipment, kids’ activities, and water fountains available to all ages. 
  • Promote diversity and inclusiveness in all policies that have an impact on the community. I strongly believe that diversity is a strength of our community which should be harnessed and appreciated. 
  • work for a Communal Kingsway, by increasing public space, introducing creative features and open-door kids’ activities. This will allow the local community to spend more time outside and enable local businesseseconomy to flourish. 
  • Promote best practices for traffic management in Monash. I believe there are many alternative approaches through which traffic congestions can be reduced on Springvale Road, High Street and Waverley Road. These are the busiest roads and creates a stressful environment for our community    

Do you think your local council is appropriately representative of your community and its interests?

Glen Waverley Ward, Monash Council requires the diverse representation of our community. At the same time, there are only 2 councillor positions available, I believe there should be at-least 3 representatives from the diverse community should be represented.

Amit pitch to his potential voter – you!

One of the common values that I represent is of service. Service to the community amongst whom I live to improve quality of life. During the last 22 years in Australia, I have participated in various volunteering programs ranging from feeding the homeless people, assisting senior citizens, organizing not-for-profit events and planting trees, collecting wastes etc.

From October 2019 I have been given the opportunity to serve as a Community Ambassador within the Monash Council, multicultural team in assisting with various strategies/programs related to diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusiveness. 

If elected, my post-pandemic key goals will be to

  • Build a strong local economy by supporting local businessand promote events that bring in more business
  • Improve the quality of life of the residents by focusing on education, health, and social welfare equal opportunity to all.
  • Revisit the past strategies to ensure they are strong and sustainable for the post-pandemic world and the Monash Council has a long-term vision to offer a better future for our children.

Do you think migrant communities are appropriately looked after by the mainstream political parties in Victoria?

Australia is a multicultural country. Our migrant communities need to be well represented. One of my key objective in this election is to;  Promote diversity and inclusiveness in all policies that have an impact on the community. I strongly believe that diversity is a strength of our community which should be harnessed and appreciated. I believe there is a lot that needs to be done and will require a lot of effort. 

As Victorian of Indian/Asian descent what do you miss most about India / your country of origin here or what do you fondly remember?

I remember those beautiful days when we celebrated the festival of colour (Holi). I miss those days….

On handling of COVID-19 pandemic, Amit says:

There is so much to learn from the COVID-19 crisis. Australia needs to apply the policies related to the best practice. There are many sub-standard applications in various states that need to be reviewed and cross evaluated against the best practices. Each of the state needs to learn from the other as to what is best for our community? Together we can grow much faster. If Victoria is suffering from COVID-19 and other states are doing well does not mean Australia is performing well above the current growth rate. We need to learn from the current crisis and assist each other to stand up and grow together.