This last fortnight saw many candidate forums take place across Port Phillip. From the Arts with its 22 candidates up the front (and a few more in the audience), to the TWISK candidate’s forum in St Kilda, to the BCNA candidate’s forum in Port Melbourne, and many others in between.
The Arts Forum saw candidates generally all agree with each other, as they spoke (and read) about what the arts in Port Phillip meant to them, although all of the rate freeze proponents we’re noticeably absent from this forum. It would have been a good opportunity for them to outline their plan to reduce Port Phillip’s arts funding from $10 million to $2 million, which would bring Port Phillips arts funding into line with the likes of Glen Eira and Bayside Councils against whom they regularly like to benchmark.
The TWISK candidates forum in St Kilda was the most interesting. Whilst the four serious candidates answered the tough questions from the audience, the answer on the night most will remember was the very direct response from the Victorian Socialists. Their candidate told the room if elected she would end capitalism in Port Phillip. Should I be surprised that this comment received a cheer from the audience, many of whom would have left their multi-million-dollar houses and terraces in St Kilda and Middle Park, jumped into their Audi’s and BMW’s, to make the short drive to Fitzroy St to listen to the five candidates in attendance?
There was clearly some tension in the room about preferences, with some candidates not happy about where they were positioned on some of the How-to-Vote cards doing the rounds of local letter boxes. This tension remained post the event where a former Mayor had to step in to calm a very firm discussion between two candidates (from different wards) that had gotten a bit heated. Sacre Bleu.
The BCNA Forum in Port Melbourne was much more relaxed by comparison with all candidates taking questions from the audience for 90 minutes.
A community safety forum in Port Melbourne held last week wasn’t so relaxed, although the biggest surprise was the candidate in attendance expressing his support for ‘move on’ laws in response to homelessness on the streets of Port Phillip.
I wonder if the accumulated wisdom behind a certain Progressive Political Posse is regretting their decision to promote this tough-on-crime candidate over the former principal?
Written and Authorised by A. Bond. 6 Victoria St St.Kilda.
