By Olivia Condous
On Saturday, May 21, Melton and Moorabool residents will head to polling booths to elect the next government, and voters will need to weigh up a number of candidates and local issues when making their decision.
The local government areas of Melton and Moorabool are mostly covered by the new federal electorate of Hawke, named after former prime minister Bob Hawke.
The seat of Hawke was created after the last federal election as part of a routine redistribution, and extends from the eastern boundaries of Ballarat up until the western suburbs of Melton.
Hawke also includes the southern suburbs of the City of Hume, such as Sunbury and Bulla.
The City of Melton will be split in half by the new redistribution, with Eynesbury, Cobblebank and Plumpton residents voting for Hawke candidates, while residents in Caroline Springs, Mount Cottrell and Truganina will vote in the seat of Gorton.
The electorate of Gorton is a smaller area, which also covers the western suburbs of the City of Brimbank, such as Keilor, Deer Park and Sydenham.
The seat of Hawke is notionally considered a Labor seat with a 10.2 per cent margin, as the original seats of Ballarat and Gorton recorded Labor majorities in the previous federal election.
The seat of Gorton is considered a very safe Labor seat with a margin of 14.2 per cent. Brendan O’Connor from the Labor party has held this seat since 2004.
In the new seat of Hawke, there are eleven candidates for voters to choose from.
Former Victorian state secretary Sam Rae is the candidate for the Labor party, university professor Dr Enamul Haque represents the Liberal party and Lynda Wheelock is the candidate for the Greens party.
Andrew Cuthbertson will run for the United Australia Party, Jack Hynes for the Victorian Socialists Party, Glenn Vessey for the Citizens Party, Michael Lacey for the Great Australian Party and Jarrod Bingham will run as an independent candidate.
In Gorton, there are nine candidates on offer, with Praise Morris as the Greens candidate, John Fletcher is the candidate for the Liberal party and Brendan O’Connor will continue his run for Labor in the seat.
The candidate for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is Daniel Connor, Michael Virag will run for the United Australia Party, Belle Gibson for the Victorian Socialists, Tony Dobran for the Great Australian Party, Paul Lassig for the Australian Federation Party and Steven Loncar will run as an independent.
Residents who are unable to get to a polling place on election day can apply for a postal vote to ensure their vote is counted.
Information about early voting locations or local polling day booths can be found on the Australian Electoral College website.
Details: www.aec.gov.au/election/voting.htm#start
