One of my recent hobbies has been becoming more interested and involved in the goings on of my local council – The City of Greater Bendigo. I even put my hand up as a candidate at one stage, which was an amazing insight into my own frailties and fears.
There is currently a by-election occurring in the North West Plains ward, which is the largest (in geographically area) ward in the city. There is a representation review due to occur within the next 18 months, so this ward composition will most likely be changed at the next general election anyway so this only a 2 year term.
It may prove to be an overdose of democracy for some with a local, state and federal election occurring within a few months of each other – a battle to engage apathetic voters.
This election is also likely to be swallowed up in the Federal campaign and be deprived of the oxygen it deserves, which is a shame because this ward contains three of the major growth areas targeted by the council in its Bendigo Residential Development Strategy: Marong, Maiden Gully and Huntly.
The ward was capably served by Kevin Gibbins until his untimely death in April. Whoever is elected will have an enormous job to try and emulate the success and energy Kevin displayed in his time on council.
There are three major challenges within the ward that have not been addressed (as far as I can see) by the 7 candidates in their campaign literature and media releases.
1) The proposed Marong industrial park and compulsory acquisition of the Carter farm property.
2) Relocation of the landfill (preferred option in August 2008 was at Clays Road, Bagshot. The previous preferred option was in Millwood Road Huntly).
3) What are their thoughts on the proposed push to make Marong and Huntly preferred residential destinations?
I don’t know any of the candidates and I don’t live in the ward so my commentary is a bit limited on what they are actually campaigning on. For what it is worth, here is my attempt at an analysis.
Bruce Phillips – Number one on the ballot, with good preference deals locked in with Elaine Harrington and Wendy Radford. Has also reportedly called ‘shenanigans’ on an unrequited preference deal with Stuart Symes as well as questioning some dodgy posters. The downside with Phillips is he has previously been a councillor so the ‘new blood’ meme is not possible. In an election that may not register too highly with the residents, he may get a lot of donkey votes.
Karel Zegers – has tried a couple of times to be elected to this position, but has fallen short. Good position on the ballot paper but the lack of a good preference deal may hurt. He has also suggested that his preference deal with Symes was not reciprocated and he has even gone to the expense of showing the changed preferences in his ads.
Elaine Harrington – without a doubt, Elaine is taking this fairly seriously. She has to because she has a lot of baggage to overcome after losing her position as Eaglehawk councillor in November 2008. Her campaign seems a touch more polished than the others – the custom email address is a nice touch. A reasonable position on the ballot paper, with good preference deals with Phillips and Wendy Radford.
Stephen Robinson – poor ballot draw. His preferences are, remarkably, fundamentally the same as Ian Beath and Stuart Symes
Wendy Radford – She has previously run in the November 2008 elections. Poor ballot position with no decent preference deals locked away. She is the only candidate to publically proclaim their membership of a political party.
Stuart Symes – The founder (and some would say the only member) of the Bendigo Action Group has locked in some great preference deals (he is number 2 for three candidates and number 3 for another), despite the calls of ‘shenanigans’. The challenge will be whether those who care at all about this election will take into account the reports of broken deals and punish accordingly.
Ian Beath – Great ballot position to take advantage of the ‘reverse donkey’. Like Robinson, his preference deals are remarkable in their similarity with Symes.
So, what does this mean? (Bearing in mind I don’t have all the candidate information in front of me and I haven’t heard any reports of how they performed at the open forum in Marong on June 25th)
I think I would like either Zegers or Harrington to win, simply because of the previous attempts (Zegers) and efforts (Harrington) being displayed.
Gut feel, I think that Bruce Phillips is in the driving seat of this one. He has the position and the preference flows to win it, with Stuart Symes being the runner up.*
The final results would be something like this:-
1) Bruce Phillips
2) Stuart Symes
3) Karel Zegers
4) Elaine Harrington
5) Ian Beath
6) Wendy Radford
7) Stephen Robinson
* I do reserve the right to change this prediction.
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