Andrew Calleja reports on the Victorian State Election and the Socialist Party campaign in the seat of Richmond.
Pundits expect few surprises when Victorians go to the polls on November 25. The Bracks Labor government is expected to be returned to office, albeit with a reduced majority in the upper house and swings in the outer Southern suburbs where the tolling of the new Mitcham to Frankston tollway has voters threatening to vote against Labor.

Voter apathy though, dissipated long ago in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne. Community campaigners have turned the once a safe Labor seat of Richmond into a marginal that has incumbent Richard Wynne fighting for his political future.

Voter backlash against Labor in 2002, saw Gemma Pinnell [28.64%] record the highest first preference vote for a Greens candidate in an Australian parliamentary election. Sensing that Wynne is viewed by community organisations as ineffective and out of the loop in the Bracks Government, Labor has guaranteed him a spot on the front bench should he retain the seat of Richmond.

Come November, Socialist Party candidate Stephen Jolly will look to become only the second ever socialist elected to an Australian parliament. Currently an elected City of Yarra Councillor, Jolly’s campaign will provide residents of Collingwood, Fitzroy, Clifton Hill, Abbottsford, Carlton and Richmond with an alternative to the neo-liberal trend of winding back social services, un-checked development and poor consultation with the electorate.

To date Jolly has worked with residents to fight the high rise Banco and Salta developments, stopped a proposed bin tax for Yarra residents, been influential in saving the Collingwood Community Information Centre and was at the forefront of introducing a industrial relations policy for Yarra that defends the right of its employees to obtain collective workplace agreements.

History is against Jolly, but it’s likely that the remanets of his state election campaign will be felt around inner Melbourne for years to come. In the days where ‘politics’ has been taken out of parliament and replaced by process debates and personal jibes it’s rare for a challenger to have a new vision. Stephen Jolly and the Socialist Party have a new vision for Victoria, one that sees the right to a child care place and public hospital bed, security from John Howard’s IR laws and justice for public housing tenants. Through our hard work in the City of Yarra Councillor, the Socialist Party has shown that we can win important victories for ordinary people.

For more information or to help with the SP election campaign in Richmond contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 or Campaign Manager Andrew Calleja on 0434 573 994.