The Liberal Party is confident a blue wave from the west can help it win control of Spring Street in next year’s state election.
Star Weekly sat down with opposition leader Brad Battin and his envoy to the western suburbs Western Metropolitan Region MP Moira Deeming at her office in Caroline Springs on Thursday, October 2.
Should the Liberals get elected, Mr Battin said his first priority in the western suburbs would be addressing crime.
“The first thing I would prioritise is probably the thing everyone speaks to me about, crime– it’s got to be about what we are going to do to address crime,” Mr Battin said.
“We talk about it across Victoria, but the west has been hit the hardest and we have seen it too often in the media, so we have to put in place our policies like ’Break Bail, Face Jail’.
Break Bail, Face Jail would involve elevating robbery, burglary and committing an indictable offence while on bail as schedule two offences– which would subject offenders to tougher bail conditions. The current exemption keeping offenders younger than 18 who breach bail out of jail would also go.
The former cop also said a government he leads would invest $100 million in rehabilitation for youth offenders.
According to Mr Battin, the Liberals are still deliberating infrastructure commitments.
“While we haven’t come through with our commitments, we have another 14 months until the state election,“ he said.
“We’re going through the exact finances, but the one thing we’ve heard too often is the west has just been ignored, and I am going to say more so mislead for too long.”
The pair was asked about the party’s previous difficulties attracting voters in the west.
“Probably point A is being present,” Mr Battin said.
He also said since the Werribee by-election in February he has continued to meet with groups, farmers and attend forums, even frequently staying in the region.
“I live on the other side of the city– most people in Berwick know me, I have lived there all my life and I understand the issues – so I have to come out here and actually live part of that, so I have been, and I’ve been staying here.”
Ms Deeming said people west of the Yarra are thirsty for political change and need little convincing about the virtues of the Liberal’s centre-right political philosophy.
“We all have stakes. I have four children, this isn’t just for political power, I am worried about my children’s future. This is a really serious fight,” Ms Deeming said.
The opposition leader said funding youth mental health facilities, working to cut red tape for small businesses and working with developers to build infrastructure before residents move into new estates were part of his plan.
He also said the Avalon employment precinct should be the “next big thing” and the Liberals would support the private sector develop to the area.
“If they create the jobs, we get the return,“ he said.
Star Weekly asked Ms Deeming what she had achieved since being appointed as the Leader’s Representative to the Western Suburbs in April.
Ms Deeming said she has been coordinating the party’s strategy in the west for infrastructure and drafting legislation.
“All the things you want to achieve, you achieve in government,” she said.
“I’ve got a whole design to restructure the Victorian public service to make sure there are no bottlenecks in justice and that there is less politicisation of funding.
“I have been designing all of these background good governance solutions.”
