Albert Park Candidates Forum

On Wednesday 10 November around 200 residents sat down at the St Kilda Town Hall for a Forum for Albert Park District Candidates in the forthcoming Victoria State election. Cohosted by Locals Into Victoria’s Environment (LIVE) and several other community groups, the format was one familiar to viewers of the ABCs Q&A,with Moderator Peter Norden and questions submitted via the LIVE web site as well as audience questions.

Four candidates attended, Martin Foley MP, the sitting member for Albert Park, Ann Birrell from the Greens political party, Mark Lopez for the Liberals and independent Serge Thomann.
While I profess to a bias, it is interesting to note that in a follow up blog on the LIVE web blog, Martin Foley was strongly supported for his performance both during his term and at the forum itself.

“After all was said and done, we think our sitting member Martin Foley (ALP) was the best performer. We like what Foley stands for and the way he expresses his values, even though these are not ideally translated in the political reality of his party. Having said this, it is important to note that we have witnessed Foley take a stand against Brumby on a number of important issues including:

• When the Brumby Government approved GM crops when there are clear long-term and wide-ranging risks involved with the technology and in the knowledge that no regulatory agency anywhere in the world is adequately addressing the human health and environmental impacts and no government has passed legislation which will effectively manage them.
• When the Brumby Government raised the possibility of exporting our highly greenhouse gas intensive brown coal”

And from my seat in the audience, they were correct. Most questionable performance of the night must go to Mark Lopez, whose main tactic was to try to scare the bejesus out of the audience by implying that their homes where being robbed as he spoke and nowhere in Albert Park was safe to walk. And his patented “I am a tutor talking to a not-very-bright Grade 6 student” delivery was very unfortunate. The truth is that in the last year, crime has declined significantly in the City of Port Phillip. Specifically, crime against persons has decreased by 9.8% and burglaries from cars has decreased by 10.4%.

I was concerned about the Liberal's tabloid-driven “tough on crime” policies, especially as they affect the mentally ill, a category already overrepresented in state prisons. I asked Mr Lopez whether the Liberal policies to restrict police discretion in arresting people and to abolish suspended sentences would mean that mentally ill Victorians were in greater danger of being imprisoned rather than receiving the support the actually needed. Mr Lopez chose not the answer the question directly but simply repeated his mantra about needing to feel safe. However, Peter Norden asked a follow up question which exposed the Liberal policy as inflexible and incapable of responding to the complex nature of the justice system in a modern society. And Mr Lopez had no answer.

As already mentioned, Martin Foley was articulate and across the detail of the questions asked. The Greens and Independent candidates were less so, which was surprising considering that they had ample opportunity to review the questions submitted via the LIVE web site. Serge Thomann constantly pointed to the pile of black-covered policy statements he had brought with him and said that the answers were in there. It's a pity he didn't bring enough for the whole audience, as 75% of us were still in the dark at the end of forum.

Ann Birrell was also somewhat hesitant and it was disturbing that she flubbed an opportunity to support the rights of women to choose and the Brumby Government's move to decriminalise abortion.

Meetings such as this forum are still a great way to meet the candidates, interrogate their policies and make sure you know who you are voting for come election time. It's a great way to weed out the charlatans and the self-promoters, as well as the genuinely committed, for, even in this era of political cynicism, there are people who are genuinely committed to ideas, policies and a vision for the community.

As a confirmed Labor person and party member, this forum was never going to change my vote, but it was an opportunity to see my candidate perform well and to witness his opposition be challenged on an level playing field. And it was somewhat satisfying to see that, not just in my eyes but in the opinion of several others, they were sadly lacking in both policy substance and presentation.