Tammy Lindrum, the One Nation candidate for the seat of Albert Park, has lived in the area for five years, though her family’s roots in the community stretch back over a century. She says concerns about rising crime, struggling small businesses and failing infrastructure prompted her to stand. Describing Victoria as being in a “desperate state”, Lindrum says she could no longer sit back and do nothing.
A lifelong Liberal voter, Lindrum chose to run for One Nation after finding “gaping holes” in the Victorian Liberal Party’s policies. After undergoing an intense screening process alongside nine other applicants, she was selected as the candidate, with party officials noting her resilience.
Tackling the Local Infrastructure and Crime Crisis
If elected, Lindrum says her immediate priority would be addressing the area’s crime rate, which she says is above the state average. She cites a recent violent home invasion in Port Melbourne and a stabbing on the number one tram as examples of her concerns, and argues that the current judicial system is failing.
“At the moment, the criminals come first,” Lindrum says, explaining that offenders are often arrested only to be released the next day. Rather than simply promising more police, Lindrum advocates for a complete overhaul of the judicial system to ensure real consequences for repeat offenders, including harder and longer sentences. For youth offenders, however, she supports developing more targeted rehabilitation programs rather than incarceration.
Beyond crime, Lindrum is highly critical of local infrastructure planning. In South Melbourne, she warns against building high-rise apartment complexes without first establishing necessary sporting facilities, tram, train, or bus services.
Lindrum is particularly concerned about the development at Fisherman’s Bend. She says the growth area is planned to accommodate 55,000 new residences and is facing severe delays, with a promised tram line pushed back from 2025 to 2050. She is also calling for an immediate pause on the new Fisherman’s Bend data centre. She says the facility was approved without public consultation and lacks a disaster plan. She also raises concerns about what she describes as massive quantities of lithium batteries and diesel stored there, the adequacy of local fire services and the absence of a 10-kilometre evacuation plan.
Supporting Small Business and Social Housing
Lindrum says small businesses are “suffocating” under red tape and seven layers of taxation, which she believes have contributed to a rise in vacant properties and lease signs on local shopping strips such as Bay Street. Drawing on her private-sector background working with large businesses, she wants to champion local commerce.
Lindrum wants to reform the social housing sector by introducing key performance indicators (KPIs) for executives, whom she describes as highly paid, to ensure vulnerable residents are properly protected. Separately, she is demanding more transparency and a clear plan before residents of the public housing towers are relocated.
The One Nation Mission
Asked about criticisms that One Nation is unstable or lacks experience, Lindrum points to candidates with backgrounds in policing, nursing and law as evidence of what she considers their calibre. She says she wants a government that actively listens to the public and tracks where taxpayer money is being spent.
Asked about the lack of depth in One Nation’s published policy documents, Lindrum says more detailed plans will be released closer to the election. She says the party is intentionally guarded because she believes the Liberal Party has copied its policies. “Every time we’ve released one of our policies… it was picked up the next day by the Liberal Party,” she says.
Ultimately, Lindrum rejects the “racist” label often directed at One Nation. “We stand for all Australians,” she says. “We think that all Australians deserve equal rights.”
TWiSK has interviewed a range of candidates and is currently interviews with Andrew Cook and Nina Taylor. You can see all our interviews here
