By Callum Ludwig
With exactly four weeks until election day, four of the candidates for the electorate of Casey put themselves under the microscope of local voters in Tecoma.
Held in the Tecoma Uniting Church on Saturday 5 April, Minister Matt Cutler opened the event to a full house before handing over to Foothills Community Care chief executive Stephen Barrington to MC the day.
Labor candidate Naomi Oakley, Independent candidate Claire Ferres-Miles, Greens candidate Dr Merran Blair and incumbent Liberal MP Aaron Violi attended.
Mr Violi and Ms Ferres-Miles live within the electorate, in Lilydale and Upwey respectively, while Dr Blair lives just outside in Emerald and Ms Oakley left the electorate in the last 12 months due to costs.
After some lighthearted introductory questions to settle everyone in, the candidates were then asked to identify the three biggest issues in Casey they have identified.
All four named the cost of living and/or doing business as the first issue put forward to them while they each had a couple of shared or differing views as to what else matters most.
Mr Violi went first and also identified housing availability and affordability, particularly due to the limits large parts of the electorate face due to Green Wedge zoning, and communications infrastructure as key concerns to address as getting ‘foundations right for the future.’
Dr Blair was next and said putting ‘systems in place’ to tax big corporations which could be used to help alleviate the cost of living pressures (inciting a cheer from the audience), climate change and protecting wildlife and the environment were key issues for Casey.
Ms Ferres-Miles picked out housing and climate change as her additional issues to bring to the table, also making the distinction to address a concern that spanned the cost of living, housing and climate change; the insurance industry, citing an unnamed local farmer whose insurance premiums rose from ‘$5000 to $25,000 in three years’.
Ms Oakley picked the particular costs of health, housing and education, as well as improving communications in the region, sticking to emissions reductions targets and renewable energy use nationwide.
Next candidates were asked to make three suggestions to help address the cost of living crisis.
Discussion
Ms Oakley went first and named a number of Labor policies which are targeted at the cost of living, including the Help to Buy Scheme, $10 million in funding for social and affordable housing and Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) investment, while leaning on her previous lived experience as a renter and sole parent to make clear she doesn’t ‘live in a bubble’.
Ms Ferres-Miles made three suggestions for a supermarket ombudsman to help crack down on price gouging and anti-competitive practices in the industry, investment in renewable energy batteries for homes and businesses to help give residents ‘control’ of their energy costs and insurance industry reform to assist the under-and-uninsured Casey constituents.
Dr Blair wants to crack down on illegal price gouging in supermarkets, reduce stamp duty on insurance, add dental and mental health care to Medicare and crack down on the profiteering of the big banks, including through a ‘mortgage keeper product’ for owner-occupiers which would limit the interest rates a bank can charge mortgages for primary homes to only one per cent above the cash rate.
Mr Violi used his background in the food industry to also take aim at the major supermarkets by introducing grocery divestiture powers to break up the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths if needed and hurt them by impacting ‘their market share’, as well as investing in infrastructure and housing and ensure people are able to insure their assets.
On climate and energy policy
Ms Oakley identified Labor’s efforts to reduce ‘feral animals and weeds’, increase land protection, reduce emissions and hit a target of 82 per cent of Australia’s energy grid being run on renewable energy.
Ms Ferres-Miles expressed her disappointment in the current Labor government’s efforts (approving new coal and gas projects), the lack of royalties Australia receives for our gas, putting forward a no-nuclear stance and aiming for large-scale investment in solar, wind and batteries, getting many claps of approval from the audience.
Dr Blair similarly disproved of the 25 coal and gas projects approved under Labor, praised the innovation into microgrids and virtual power plants in improving energy resilience which the crowd also enjoyed and called for subsidies to electrify Australian homes, rather than relying on gas.
Mr Violi faced a tough crowd when putting forward his idea to address the ‘three key pillars’ of energy, being price, reliability and the journey to net zero by 2050. Mr Violi said the Coalition want a ‘balanced transition’ from a coal, gas and renewable system to a nuclear, gas and renewable systems. The mention of nuclear energy was heavily booed, with laughs from the crowd after Mr Violi said there would be no nuclear power plant in the Yarra Valley and further boos when attempting to identify the potential for nuclear energy to use existing transmission lines and create zero emissions.
On healthcare and mental health
Ms Oakley again identified Labor policies to improve bulk billing and invest in Medicare and the PBS, and was unclear on their policy for mental health but said through her experience working with people experiencing mental healths concerns that she would campaign for more to be done, particularly for those on the NDIS.
Ms Ferres-Miles’ major concern was the complete lack of emergency department in the Casey electorate with Warburton Hospital remaining closed and Healesville Hospital’s emergency department having been closed, sharing a story she was told in Hoddles Creek by a resident who was told by emergency responders to drive her husband, who was having a stroke, to hospital herself and on the way was told Maroondah Hospital was on bypass and she had to keep going to Box Hill Hospital. Ms Ferres-Miles also identified the need to increase bulk-billing rates in Casey and approved of adding dental and mental health to Medicare.
Dr Blair wants to triple the Medicare rebate for GPs, increase emergency care clinics across the country, add dental and mental health to Medicare, increase access to Allied Health services and incentivise training for mental health professionals.
Mr Violi pointed to the Coalition’s pledges to invest $400 million into youth mental health, to reinstate the 20 subsidised mental healthcare sessions which Labor cut to 10 and to deliver an Urgent Care Clinic in Healesville.
Questions from the crowd wrapped up the event.
Q&A
Mr Violi was asked why Opposition Leader Peter Dutton allegedly removed LGBTQIA+ flags from the offices of Headspace Melton ahead of a press conference and after initially refusing to answer something that ‘wasn’t a question’, he later said media reports ‘are not always factual’ and he was not involved in the national campaign.
On a question about salmon farms, Ms Oakley, Ms Ferres-Miles and Dr Blair expressed they were opposed to negative impacts of the industry and Mr Violi emphasised that agriculture neds to be supported to operate sustainably.
On their thoughts on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Ms Oakley said she was devastated by the loss of life, Ms Ferres-Miles said the actions of Israel are not proportionate, Dr Blair wants Australia to speak out louder against Israel and Mr Violi supports a two-state solution.
Mr Violi was asked by an impressive young attendee where nuclear waste would be stored, and he identified similar facilities such as the one in Lucas Heights (New South Wales) where Australia’s only nuclear reactor is, would be developed.
A question about abortion was put forward, sparking a hostile reaction from large portion of the crowd and Ms Oakley, Ms Ferres-Miles and Dr Blair all supported a woman’s right to choose and Mr Violi said it was a state issue and that we should ‘protect all people’.
When asked whether they would keep showcasing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at their press conferences, all four candidates said they would.
The last questions was to Dr Blair and Ms Ferres-Miles about whether they would help the Coaltion form government, with Dr Blair firmly against it and Ms Ferres-Miles saying it was dependent on policy, but that she would currently edge towards Labor.
More ‘Meet the Candidates’ events in Casey are set to be held before election day on Saturday 3 May.
