NAME: Sophia de Wit
PARTY: Democratic Labour Party
OCCUPATION: Photographer
AGE: 42
1. Where do you live and how long have you lived there? 35 years
2. Why did you decide to run for the seat of Croydon?
To ensure a standard of living now and into the future and protect from changing the nature of Croydon and the traditional way of life in the area.
3. Why do you believe you’re the best candidate for Croydon?
Being a long term resident and understanding Croydon and its uniqueness, I want to offer residents a candidate someone who will stand strong in the face of negative changes by people who care nothing for Croydon and its spaces, people and culture.
4. What are your party’s policies and values you stand by?
The DLP is a conservative working class party with very long term views on Australian culture and values. The party understands what it means to preserve our way of life and wants all Australians to join in with owning a house and supporting a family. Paying mums $35,000 per year to raise their own children, and allowing long term welfare housing residents to own their own home will get people who are not happy into the Australian dream. We can do more to fairly assist all Australians to be included in the Australian dream.
5. What are the biggest three issues in the electorate and how will you tackle them?
Lowering the standard of living by turning Croydon into a CBD like place is not what anyone has asked for, making ordinary roads major arterials may be great for huge companies who survive on tearing up communities does not work out well for a small environment like Croydon which has for 100 years been largely unchanged where everyone felt part of the community. Croydon should protect its environment and way of life, give people a chance to be part of the Australian dream and from a party perspective give those raising a family a chance to do it their way.
NAME: Sorina Grasso
PARTY: Labor
OCCUPATION: Higher education teacher
AGE: Unknown
1. Where do you live and how long have you lived there?
I live in a neighbouring district; I have worked in Croydon at Swinburne TAFE, Croydon campus, and have many links to Croydon that go way back. My partner runs a business in the area and until recently lived in the area for 25 years, so I have strong ties to the area.
2. Why did you decide to run for the seat of Croydon?
I have decided to run in the State election to make a difference and put my Labor values into practice, giving the voters of Croydon a voice in Parliament to do what matters for the electorate and improve the lives of the people of Croydon.
3. Why do you believe you’re the best candidate for Croydon?
I am a woman going against a male incumbent and in the Liberal Shadow Cabinet there are seven shadow ministers who are female when there are 14 in the Labor Cabinet, so their female representation is half of what ours is at the highest level, which is not representative of our society at all. Also, I am an Australian of culturally diverse background and there is virtually no cultural diversity in the Liberal shadow cabinet.
4. What is the biggest challenge facing the residents of Croydon?
I think the biggest challenge facing residents in the Croydon district is protection of the natural treed environment and green space. As more vegetation is being lost to development, we need to make sure that any vegetation that is lost is replaced so we maintain the green canopy of the area, reduce the impact of climate change and avoid the risk of heat banks forming and people suffering heat stress and having to spend more on cooling their homes in summer.
5. What are the three biggest issues in the electorate and how will you tackle them?
My priorities are to fight for everyone to have access to good quality education, decent job opportunities and a good standard of living. If I could achieve one thing as an MP I would continue the massive investment of the State Labor Government in mental health – $1.3 billion in the 2022-2023 Budget building upon the record $3.8 billion investment in last year’s Budget.
NAME: David John Hodgett
PARTY: Liberals
OCCUPATION: MP, State Member for Croydon
AGE: 59
1. Where do you live and how long have you lived there?
I have lived in the local area for nearly 40 years and currently live just outside the electorate in Lilydale.
2. Why did you decide to run for the seat of Croydon?
I am a local and I love the community I live in. I wanted to serve my community and ensure that there is a local who will listen to the needs of the community to deliver the services and facilities for the betterment of us all.
3. Why do you believe you’re the best candidate for Croydon?
I think it’s really important for any electorate to have a local representing them. As I have mentioned, I have lived in this area for the best part of 40 years, so I have a strong local knowledge that spans decades. As a local, I am passionate about serving, helping and supporting the community that I live in.
4. What are your party’s policies and values you stand by?
We have six overarching policies – they are:
– Fixing the healthcare crisis without raising taxes
– Putting an end to Daniel Andrews’ era of spiralling debt and higher taxes
– Rewarding hard working families (& helping with the cost of living pressures)
– Helping small business
– Restoring integrity and accountability in Government
– Building strong Communities
5. What are the biggest three issues in the electorate and how will you tackle them?
Three biggest issues for the electorate of Croydon are: Health, Cost of living and lack of focus on the needs of the electorate of Croydon.
– Health. We have a situation in Victoria and therefore in the electorate of Croydon where an ambulance does not arrive when you need it and we do not have a bed in a hospital when you are sick. The Liberals will fix the State’s health crisis by directing the funds from the Cheltenham to Box Hill rail line into the healthcare system. Specifically, for the electorate of Croydon, this means the Liberals will invest $400 million to upgrade the Maroondah hospital and an additional $125 million to fix the Triple-zero system state-wide so that an ambulance comes when you need it.
– The residents of Croydon are experiencing significant cost of living pressures. We will help with the cost of living by providing $2 public transport fares, all day, every day. We will provide a free healthy lunch to primary and secondary school students who attend a government school. We will provide $200 vouchers for school enrolled children to participate in sport, dance, scouts or other healthy active recreation. We have announced a $500 dental vouchers program to halve public dental waitlists. We will cut 7 taxes as well as freezing fixed household water charges for five years to help families with cost of living pressures.
– Our schools, sports facilities, charities and community as a whole have been overlooked by the current Labor government. Moreover, there has been a lack of consultation in building projects that affect the residents in this electorate, such as the level crossing removal and the proposed massive overdevelopment of the Croydon Central. I have outlined my plan to upgrading numerous schools, sporting facilities, roads as well as providing much needed funding to charities and community groups. I will advocate to deliver improved services for the electorate of Croydon and to ensure genuine community consultation on projects that impact the lives of residents.
NAME: Brendan Powell
PARTY: Greens
OCCUPATION: Operations Coordinator and Swimming Coach
AGE: 36
1. Where do you live and how long have you lived there?
I have spent my whole life growing up, living and working in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and currently live in Bayswater North.
2. Why did you decide to run for the seat of Croydon?
When I look at the past representation of this area in Parliament, I don’t think we see our genuine community character represented. I think our community wants to see more action on providing affordable housing which sits in harmony with our environment, on clean and sustainable transport, and on putting people before corporate profits in this cost of living crisis we face.
3. Why do you believe you’re the best candidate for Croydon?
I’m not a career politician, or a former staffer or media advisor to an MP – I’m a real person who lives in this community, who faces the same challenges on housing, access to viable public transport and pressures on cost of living as many other community members. I think our politicians have lost touch with what it means to live in this area and need to face pressure to act on the issues locals are facing.
4. What are your party’s policies and values you stand by?
The Greens believe in representing the progressive values of our community. We want to remove the influence of big corporations in politics and make them pay their fair share so that people can have better access to the services we all need. The Greens have a vast, publicly-available policy platform including 100% renewable energy by 2030, building more affordable homes and tackling corruption in parliament.
5. What are the biggest three issues in the electorate and how will you tackle them?
In this district I think one of the biggest issues we face is access to clean, reliable public transport options, which the community can depend on to get them around town. I think we need to improve access to quality affordable housing so that everyone can have a roof over their head, as well as capping the out-of-control rent increases we’re seeing at the moment. I think all of these measures speak to an increasing cost of living in this area and we need to make our politicians factor this in whenever they are representing us, so that we can all keep our heads above water.
NAME: Harley McDonald-Eckersall
PARTY: Animal Justice Party
As a passionate vegan and someone who has believed in the welfare of animals from a young age, Harley McDonald-Eckersall is running as a candidate for Croydon because she believes she can make a difference for all species representing the Animal Justice Party.
At 19, Ms McDonald-Eckersall co-founded the non-profit organisation Young Voices for Animals (YVA), where she was able to deliver a youth leadership program, to inspire the next generation of animal advocates.
Having worked for grassroots environmental justice organisations, Ms McDonald-Eckersall has focused on best practice to address the climate crisis and find solutions to the problems.
She is currently undertaking her Masters in Strategic Communications Management at Monash University.
The candidate was contacted for comment on the questionnaire.
NAME: Dan Nebauer
PARTY: Family First Victoria
Some of the Family First Victoria party’s policies are as follows:
– Protect children from harmful gender fluid ideology by removing such material from all school and early childhood curriculum.
– Close drug injecting centres.
– Divert people to programs which help them get free of their addictions.
– Housing affordability – release more land and reduce red tape to free up supply and lower prices.
– Energy affordability and reliability – use gas to avoid blackouts by firming electricity supply and to lower retail power prices. Unlock gas reserves by lifting bans on exploration. Keep coal-fired power stations open until there are viable and affordable alternatives that provide baseload electricity.
– Centre the curriculum around the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. Restore the primacy of Western Civilisation and the Australian achievement.
– Restore freedom of speech and religion – repeal Equal Opportunity Act provisions which restrict churches and schools’ freedom to hire staff in accordance with an organisation’s religious ethos.
The candidate was contacted for comment on the questionnaire. No headshot could be found.
