The 2022 Maribyrnong floods devastated the local community. Five hundred homes were damaged and more than 1,000 people were forced to evacuate.The clean up was long and costly.

While surrounding streets were inundated with water, the Flemington Racecourse – protected by a flood wall – remained largely unaffected. A report by Melbourne Water has confirmed that the flood wall made the flooding worse, raising water levels for at least 240 homes, including some that may not have flooded otherwise.

The Labor State Government was warned by experts that this would happen. They approved the flood wall anyway, because they cared more about the influence of the racing industry than they did about people’s homes and lives.

This will happen again, and with worsening weather events as a result of climate change it’s likely to be even more frequent. 

People’s homes and lives should be more important than protecting the horse racing and gambling industries. Join the community and the Greens in demanding that the Labor State Government make the racecourse take down the flood wall. 

_{Header image via Herald Sun}