Grab the bull by the horns: There is much to consider when casting your vote.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
As regular readers may recall, around three decades ago we at The News came to the conclusion that our long-standing fealty to one conservative political party wasn’t doing our readers much good.
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Year after year, we watched in despair as our sister regional cities such as Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong — as well as cities in the Latrobe Valley — attracted far more generous government funding than we did, for a very simple reason: they had closely contested seats capable of determining which party won government. We, however, were taken for granted.
In the mid-1990s, The News strongly supported the ‘Make Murray Marginal’ campaign, which resulted in a change of our federal representation from National to Liberal. It yielded immediate benefits. After Sharman Stone retired, the Nationals were desperate to win back the seat — and keep it. Damian Drum then worked hard to bring significant benefits to the electorate, fortunately while the Federal Coalition was in government.
Editorial: What is best for the Shepparton District?
Along the way we — and the political parties — learned some useful lessons. The first was that, when the voters are prepared to change, politicians and their parties pay attention. Another was that the voters won’t accept any old candidate the local party branch serves up to them. They want competent representation, capable of making a difference. The political parties learned that lesson too.
So, out of a field of nine candidates, we have three strong frontrunners facing off in the forthcoming Victorian state election. Kim O’Keeffe, a former businesswoman and mayor of Greater Shepparton, for the Nationals; Cheryl Hammer, a former journalist, farmer and community foundation head, for the Liberals; and Suzanna Sheed, a lawyer and company director from an irrigation farming background, seeking a third term as our independent local member.
Each is quite capable of representing us as a local member of Parliament. The next question we ask ourselves is: who can do so most effectively? In our view, this is entirely dependent on who wins government on November 26. If the successful candidate’s party fails to win government — or can’t work effectively with that government — Shepparton is left out in the cold. We have learned that lesson the hard way.
Over the past eight years, we have witnessed the extraordinary influence of an independent in what might be regarded as a safe conservative seat. With a Labor government in power — and anxious to keep out their opposition — Ms Sheed has been able to extract unprecedented funding support for infrastructure in health, education and public transport, among other projects, totalling some $1.5 billion.
Ms Sheed has scrupulously maintained her independence and has done no “deals” with the Andrews Government. She would argue that she can work effectively with any party in power and that may be right; but her real value to us — and her ability to add to her remarkable list of achievements — derives from a Labor government wanting to keep an independent in Shepparton and a National or Liberal out. If you think Mr Andrews will secure a further term, that, in our view, tells us what is best for Shepparton.
