A new “Voices of” group in Melbourne’s inner west is taking aim at the government’s dominance as it kicks off a search for candidates to challenge Labor-held seats for the first time in Victoria.
The founding members of Voices of the Inner West, many of whom have connections to so-called teal political campaigns, are united by the issues of climate, integrity and equality – just don’t call them teals.
From left: Jessica Marsh, Mia Cusack, Graeme Hammond, Anthony Warren and Derek Begg of the community-backed Voices of the Inner West. Credit: Jason South
Instead, the organisers say the decision to run reflects growing frustration with what they describe as one-party dominance in Melbourne’s west, a region held almost exclusively by Labor for decades.
The group’s Anthony Warren from Yarraville said it hoped to find community independents to target Footscray and potentially Williamstown at next year’s state election.
“There’s an impression that teals only run against Liberals, but that’s a fallacy,” Warren said.
“A lot of people feel disillusioned. The demographics of the inner west are now very favourable to community representation – people can see the issues, they can feel them, they can breathe them.”
The floodwaters that swamped Maribyrnong in 2022 were the worst in the area since 1974.Credit: Nine News
The Age has strengthened its focus on Melbourne’s west with a special series examining the positives and challenges the region faces. Later this month, our reporters will moderate a West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance (WoMEDA) summit to discuss a vision for the western suburbs’ success.
Warren said the emergence of Voices of the Inner West was driven by long-standing environmental and social challenges that many residents felt major parties had ignored – including contamination from the West Gate Tunnel soil, air quality concerns and the devastating Maribyrnong floods of 2022.
While the foundation members don’t identify as teal, the group is part of the community independents network and is open to collaborating with other successful teal campaigns and accepting money from Climate 200, if its values align.
“Why reinvent the wheel when this model has worked. It’s proven. They’ve got people elected,” Warren said.
“I mean, you want to win. We are not just after a participation prize. But in the worst case you don’t win, but you ... prompt change because then the incumbents say, ‘Well, we’d better listen.’”
Anthony Warren says Voices of the Inner West is focused on winning.Credit: Jason South
The group is collaborating with local grassroots networks, including Maribyrnong’s Community Recovery Association and Mums for Climate Action.
If successful, Voices of the Inner West said it would also consider backing independent candidates to run in the corresponding federal electorates of Gellibrand and Fraser, as well as in council elections in Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong.
Political experts said the emergence of a Voices of group in the inner west would test whether the model that had previously delivered wins for community-backed independents in Goldstein, Indi and Kooyong could succeed in Labor seats.
Williamstown and Footscray have long been considered safe Labor territory.
Williamstown, once home to premiers Steve Bracks and Joan Kirner, remains a safe Labor seat for MP Melissa Horne, despite suffering an 8 per cent slump in her primary vote at the 2022 election.
In neighbouring Footscray, represented by Katie Hall, strong gains to the Greens and Victorian Socialists meant Labor’s 18 per cent margin was slashed to just 4 per cent.
Meanwhile, The West Party, which grew out of the Werribee byelection, has confirmed it will run candidates in most western seats.
That political movement is tapping into discontent in Melbourne’s outer west, following rapid population growth, infrastructure strain and cost-of-living pressures.
At the Werribee byelection, triggered by former treasurer Tim Pallas’ retirement, Labor’s primary vote crashed by more than 16 per cent, but the Liberals picked up a modest 3.7 per cent.
Independent Paul Hopper, who secured 14.6 per cent of the primary vote, is now part of The West Party, which is searching for potential candidates to run across Melbourne’s west.
The group is also expected to field a candidate in Williamstown.
Monash University political scientist Zareh Ghazarian said that while Labor’s dominance in the west would make the challenge difficult for emerging groups, the signs of political realignment were clear.
“Voters aren’t welded on – they may be tempted by independents who align with local concerns,” he said.
“It makes a lot of sense for these political disruptors to start making their way into Labor territory.”
Ghazarian said that election results in other parts of Australia had shown community independents did particularly well in inner-metropolitan electorates, which had a higher percentage of professionals and younger voters.
Resolve Strategic director Jim Reed said that while teal movements had some success in 2022 against inner-city Liberals, there had been no serious attempt to carve into Labor’s seat tally.
“After Labor’s landslide in the cities, that’s the only place for them to grow now,” he said. “If you can offer something new and appealing, people can shift in droves.”
A Victorian government spokesperson said it would continue its strong investments in Melbourne’s west.
“We’re delivering what matters to Victorians who call our western suburbs home – we’ve opened new schools, invested billions to improve the road and rail network, and we’re building new world-class hospitals and delivering more healthcare closer to home,” the spokesperson said.
The West of Melbourne Summit, presented by WoMEDA with The Age, will be held on October 22-23. For details go to womeda.com.au
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