Meet Reason Party Candidate Ethan Mileikowski
18-year-old Ethan Mileikowski has lived in Glen Eira his whole life, and loves the local community. Passionate about well-developed evidenced-based policy as well as a kinder, more compassionate approach to government,听Mileikowski is also one of the Mental Health Foundation’s 2020 Youth Ambassadors. This year he is running for local council as a member of Fiona Patten鈥檚 Reason Party.
鈥�I鈥檓 actually still a student in VCE,听产耻迟 my big reason running for council was because I saw what was a very quickly changing world. Whether that鈥檚 the climate emergency or whether that鈥檚 the health and economic crisis from COVID or the now ever changing nature of work, a lot is changing. And we have, not necessarily a conservative council, but they are very much an establishment which are stuck in their ways. I was concerned they were not going to change with it.
鈥�We鈥檝e slowly become the council with the least amount of green open spaces in the state and for years it鈥檚 just been talked about and no one really does anything.
鈥�I think people of all ages are starting to notice we need to change our ways. With every new generation entering into the political sphere things do tend to change with it, I think that鈥檚 just the natural course. However, now more than ever we need a change in how we do things and how we govern.
听鈥�I鈥檝e always seen myself as someone who is very firmly progressive but yet at the same time incredibly passionate about small businesses being cared for and the government being fiscally responsible. I think that鈥檚 something that Fiona Patten and the Reason Party are very much about. I think it鈥檚 also the two factors of how the [party] make decisions which is evidence-based and compassionate, and in politics we are desperately missing the latter in particular.
鈥�We need a business recovery package, several other councils have done it, but we have definitely left our businesses out to dry in the midst of COVID.听Even before the COVID-19 restrictions, small businesses in the area in the area were not doing well for a long time, the lockdowns have just taken that further.
鈥�The slogan that the Reason Party are running is 鈥�Commitment, Community, Compassion鈥�, and I think all three of those together are missing from local politics and politics in general. We need representatives that will be deeply compassionate and caring in the way they make decisions.
鈥�The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on so many living in Glen Eira. With economic and health crises, it鈥檚 clear that forward-thinking, innovative ideas are going to be necessary to ensure that nobody gets left behind. I鈥檓 not just going to work for a better council, I鈥檓 going to fight for transparency, inclusivity, and will make sure that Glen Eira is responsive to the needs of its residents.鈥�
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