Council Elections Are Here….

Given that I live in a very safe Labor seat – both federally and state wise – normal elections are the subject of considerable apathy.

Supporters of either major party make only a token effort, as illustrated when I had the poster for the local Liberal candidate on my front fence for the state election 2 years ago, no one bothering to steal it or deface it in any way.

After all, it is an area where complacency with the status quo is the norm. I do not even hear the local Labor hacks complaining that an outsider from another state has been parachuted into the very safe federal seat of Maribyrnong as Bill Shorten’s replacement, without any of the local hacks having a say in the matter.

Local elections in recent years have been rather different. The shops on the main drag are festooned with posters for the local council candidates, and some even have giant real estate style fence signs up in front of some houses.

Looking around Maribyrnong and Footscray, the visibility of those council candidates is even higher. I only have three candidates to choose from (spoiler alert, the Labor candidate did not get my vote), but my mother and brother on the other side of the river are over blessed with choice- they get seven candidates (one Labor, one Green, one Socialist, and four supposed independents to bemuse them).

Why o why have council elections become such a battleground for grassroots democracy in recent years?

Let us count the ways.

Labor have always had a campaign machine focus on local government – particularly in some of the outer suburbs where they can sate the political ambitions of some of their more appalling members.

The Greens similarly have an appetite for activism, particularly with their desire to consume ratepayer money on bike paths, needle exchanges and services for asylum seekers (spoiler alert – there is a big difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker).

Similarly the Socialists (read Communist and other Marxists) love getting out there and waving their red flag at any opportunity.

The Liberals, god bless them, have recently decided to start running candidates as officially endorsed teams, although how it sits with them that their City of Melbourne team does not include Roshena Campbell, serial aspirationalist for Liberal parliamentary representation (she is on the current Labor aligned Lord Mayor’s ticket as his deputy).

As for the rest. Melbourne is much larger than it was 20 plus years ago when I moved to Avondale Heights. The population now is well over five million, whereas at the turn of the millennium it was about 3 million. And it keeps growing.

This means that approval for development, particularly in the rezoning of large former industrial and commercial sites, is big money. Developers want like minded people to become civic leaders, particularly on local councils.

O the philantrophy and civic mindedness!