Can Brimbank Change? « Alex Schlotzer

On Saturday, 29 November 2008, voters in Brimbank (Melbourne’s largest metropolitan municipality) will head to polling booths. There are some 55 candidates for 11 positions and as usual the Australian Labor Party (ALP) has delivered a significant number of stooges to support the preferred candidate (I use the term preferred because the ALP doesn’t pre-select candidates for local government elections).

Unfortunately for those looking for a real alternative, the local political powers continue to repeat the very things that have been long annoyances for voters, like standing stooges loyal to local members of parliament. It reminds me of Mr Seitz complaining about Brimbank City Council when he had lost control through the councillors loyal to him and his agenda. It would often seem that most of the decisions made by the Council are really done to appease a particular political master from among the local ALP MPs.

However, the Liberals never seem to any campaign work in Brimbank except during state and federal elections. They pretend like they’re around working for the community, when in fact they only time you see the Liberals is at state and federal elections. You never read about the Liberals saying something about local issues, well unless Bernie Finn has worked out a way of looking good – we all remember him ranting on about how bad Brimbank City Council is because he got pinged with a parking fine because he parked illegally.

So how do the good voters of Brimbank know who is who in the long lists of candidates?

Get hold of the list of candidates for the ward you’ll be voting in, and give each candidate a call. Ask them where they stand on issues important to you.