The federal election battle for Monash

A former Liberal representative, a new Liberal representative, and a Climate 200-backed independent are fighting it out in eastern Victoria.

Nuclear versus renewables?

Aside from cost of living, this question and the future of Australia’s energy mix has arguably been one of the most dominant discussions during this election campaign, and a microcosm of the issue is playing out in the east Victorian electorate of Monash.

With the Loy Yang power station in neighbouring Gippsland earmarked to become one of seven nuclear sites should the Coalition win, energy policy is significant for Monash voters - but the leading candidates have different ideas over what they think their people want to drive down electricity prices.

Russell Broadbent – Member of the Australian House of Representatives.

The incumbent MP, former Liberal and now independent Russell Broadbent, believes neither is the way to go, and Australia should back coal to lower prices.

“Take away the subsidies, the cheapest form of fuel is coal. As renewables come in, our price has been going through the roof and it’s killing businesses,” he said.

“I’ve said no nuclear power without community support, and it’s not there at the moment.

“The only thing you can do to get electricity prices down is what the Germans did, which is to build a new coal power station.”

Mary Aldred, founding chief executive of the Committee for Gippsland and daughter of former federal Liberal MP Ken Aldred, is the new Liberal Party candidate after winning preselection last year.

She said the people of Monash are interested to hear more about the Coalition’s nuclear plan.

Former Franchise Council of Australia chief executive Mary Aldred. Picture: Supplied

“I’ve spoken to power station workers in Loy Yang B, and they want highly skilled, highly paid jobs, and they’re proud of the contribution they’ve made to keeping the lights on,” Ms Aldred said.

“Many of those workers come from a multi-generational contribution to the Latrobe Valley workforce, and they’d like their children to have the opportunity to continue in that if they choose to do so.”

Meanwhile Deb Leonard, the Climate-200 backed independent candidate who is running for a second time, believes the constituents of Monash are concerned about how nuclear waste will be transported on Victoria’s sketchy roads, and that renewables are the way forward.

Deb Leonard is an independent candidate for Monash.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions. Where’s the toxic waste going to be stored? How are our roads going to cope with 40-tonne trucks carrying toxic waste? Where’s the water going to come from? Is it going to come from our farmers?” she said.

“We need clean, reliable power now, and we have the ability to roll our clean, reliable power now through solar batteries and wind.”

Can $1m win Monash?

The differences in approaches to energy policy extends to their approaches on winning the campaign.

Monash has voted Liberal and, more specifically, for Broadbent since 2004 (the seat was previously named McMillan until 2019). With Broadbent now sitting as an independent, the 2025 election will be a test to see whether voters stay loyal to the person, or vote for the party and it’s new candidate, Aldred.

Add into the mix the charge from Leonard, who received 10 per cent of first preference votes last election, the campaign has made for an interesting watch.

Broadbent, 74, said he now has more freedom “to go after the things that you want”, but is also wanting to win on a “quiet” campaign, and has taken perhaps the unusual step for independent candidates of not accepting any financial donations from would-be supporters.

“We’re not making a big fuss. I don’t think people of Monash like to think that they can be bought, I can’t be bought. No one has ever spent a million dollars in this electorate,” he said.

While that may have been the case previously, as of Friday afternoon, Deb Leonard had received $1,057,490 from 643 declared donors on her website, including $476,460 from Climate 200.

“Last time, we started only three months out from the election. We had a really great group of experienced and passionate volunteers, but none of us had really any campaign experience,” Ms Leonard said.

“This time we have more volunteers, are more organised, and have more funding, and I think we’ve got a really good chance now. People are just so sick of the major parties, and they’re sort of looking for something (different).”

The Liberal Party won Monash with a slender 2.9 per cent in 2022, and whether the people are looking for a change remains to be seen, with Mary Aldred the current bookies’ favourite.

“I think I offer a new perspective on a whole range of issues and challenges that families are facing. I think I’ve got a real life, practical, modern experience on all of those things, and I’m just out there giving it my best shot,” Ms Aldred said.