Man at centre of Slug Gate says ‘nothing wrong’ with Labor values, but there is with Andrews

The man at the centre of the ‘slug gate’ scandal, Ian Cook, has met with early voters on the first day of pre-polling in his bid to unseat the Victorian leader.

Ian Cook is running against Dan Andrews in Mulgrave. Picture: Tim Carafa

Ian Cook, an independent running against Daniel Andrews in the seat of Mulgrave, says he never intended to get into politics.

But the man at the centre of “slug gate”, a scandal in which his catering business I Cook was accused of supplying a listeria-infected sandwich to an elderly woman in hospital who died before a council inspector said they found a slug at the premises, said he felt compelled to enter the 2022 Victorian election race.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with traditional Labor values. The issue I have is with Dan Andrews’ values and that's what I say to Labor voters, please, this time, trust me,” he said.

“We need to do this or the Australian Labor Party, which has a proud tradition, will be trashed by someone who does not hold its core values.”

Marking the opening day of pre-polling before the November 26 election, Mr Cook was supported by his wife Deana and about six volunteers at the Mulgrave early voting station opposite the Premier’s office just off the Princes Highway at Noble Park in the state’s southeast on Monday.

The 62-year-old, volunteers and other candidates braved bursts of heavy rain and gusts of wind to hand out how-to-vote cards to a steady stream of voters.

Mr Cook, who is running a grassroots campaign on an anti-corruption platform, said he believed he had a chance of winning the seat despite the Premier winning it in 2018 on a two-party preferred vote of 57.3 per cent and holding it for the past two decades.

“All I can tell you is the response has been incredibly positive,” he said.

Former nurse and Labor party member Marianne Banks, who was handing out how-to-vote cards, said despite being embroiled in four different anti-corruption investigations she believed Mr Andrews would hold on to his seat and predicted Labor would retain government.

“He has to be questioned. Everybody is accountable. We don’t know what the answers will be. Like he said, (he will) give an honest answer as best as (he) can,” she said.

After he officially launched Labor’s re-election campaign on Sunday and conducted an interview blitz on Monday, volunteers did not believe Mr Andrews would attend the first day of pre-polling at Mulgrave.

Ms Banks said she had more confidence Labor could fix the state’s healthcare system compared with other parties.

“There are not enough nurses. Daniel Andrew is trying to help people that are struggling (and) would love to be a nurse,” she said.

“He’s kept a majority of his promises that he said, and his policies are understandable.”

Liberal party candidate Michael Piastrino, who exchanged whispers before an interview with Freedom Party of Victoria candidate Aidan McLindon, said he believed Mr Andrews could realistically lose his seat due to his party’s management of Covid-19.

“Daniel Andrews has lied to the people,” he said.

The Liberal party will direct preferences to Mr Cook, listing him second on their how-to-vote cards.

As well, Mr McLindon – who’s Freedom party was only registered two months ago – described himself as a “wrecking ball”.

“I put everything in this not to win but to make sure Daniel doesn‘t,” he said.

Liberal Democrats senate candidate David Limbrick said his party decided not to run in the lower house when they discovered Mr Cook was running.

“I’d be very happy if Ian got elected in the lower house,” he said. “We are focusing on the upper house in southeast metro.”