About 125 One Nation supporters gathered at Ringwood Bowls Club on Monday night for the launch of the campaigns for Croydon candidate Glenn Brindley and Ringwood candidate John O’Connor ahead of the November 28 state election.

Brindley and O’Connor said if elected they would cancel the Suburban Rail Loop and prioritise upgrades to Maroondah Hospital.

More than $14 billion in contracts are signed and tunnelling began in September; the Liberals say they would pause and review the project rather than cancel it.

A $20 million joint commitment has been made by the state and federal government for a dedicated children’s emergency department at Maroondah Hospital. Construction is expected to begin in 2027.

The Liberal pledge to spend $6.5 million on upgrades at Mooroolbark Heights Reserve was deemed by Brindley an empty promise.

Much of the evening saw the candidates criticising the state Labor government for what they said was wasteful spending and corruption.

Brindley said One Nation would “abolish Net Zero policies”.

Australian flags and orange party merchandise were on display around the room. One man wore a custom-made cape bearing the Australian flag and coat of arms.

An AI-produced ad for One Nation, featuring a machete-wielding African teen saying “I shouldn’t be on bail” and an Indian man yelling “no more mass migration” was screened.

The crowd stood for Advance Australia Fair before watching an excerpt from a Hanson speech. Hanson was described by MC Daniel Adams — the husband of One Nation’s North-Eastern Metropolitan Upper House candidate Natalie Adams – as “our fearless leader”.

Ringwood and Croydon sit in the North-Eastern Metropolitan Upper House region, where One Nation is polling about 21 percent, enough for Adams to likely win a seat.

Natalie Adams told supporters the state education system was indoctrinating children, arguing One Nation could return Victoria to the “way it was when we were growing up”.

“(Children) are being taught what to think, not how to think,” she said.

Brindley said schools should focus on fundamentals such as Australian history: “Children should be taught the facts, not ideology. Men are men, women are women.”

He described Welcome to Country ceremonies as “a disgrace”.

O’Connor’s speech touched on crime, gang violence, small business taxes and the education of students with disabilities.

However, there was little detail on how the candidates would advocate for local solutions to issues like housing affordability, public transport, data centres and roads.

Read more at the link below:

Labor is promising school and community upgrades, the Liberal Party is pledging more police and $5 billion for roads, while Independent and Greens candidates are pitching household electrification subsidies and cost-of-living relief across Ringwood, Hawthorn and Kew.

With Ringwood MP Will Fowles stepping aside and Independent challengers targeting Liberal-held Hawthorn and Kew, we asked candidates how they are pitching for your vote at the November 28 Victorian election.

One of the three Labor candidates responded to our questions, via email.

Ringwood candidate Rachel Halse said local schools, hospitals and community infrastructure were among residents’ biggest concerns.

“Free dental clinics and cutting land tax are just some of the policies that I know will make a real difference for families across Ringwood,” she said. “For me, it’s about making sure families can get ahead, not just get by.”

The leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria and Kew MP Jess Wilson was the only one of three candidates who answered our questions, via a written response.

She said a Liberal government would recruit an additional 3,000 police officers and invest $5 billion in fixing the state’s roads, while other goals would include reducing crime and the cost of living and targeting government spending and corruption.

“I want Victoria to be a place where families feel safe, businesses can thrive, young people have opportunities and hard work is rewarded,” Wilson said. “Locally, I’ve pledged upgrades to Kew East Primary School and Greythorn Primary School, as well as safe pedestrian crossings on Barkers Road and at the Willsmere roundabout.”

All three of the Independent candidates responded to our questions, with Hawthorn candidate Shima Ibuki speaking over the phone.

“I am pretty disillusioned with how the major parties are too often influenced by party politics, lobbyists and vested interests, rather than the people that they are elected to represent,” she said.

Kew Independent Sophie Torney pledged subsidies of up to $6,000 for low and middle-income households to make electrification and home energy upgrades.

Her local priorities included replacing the Willsmere Road roundabout with a signalised intersection, installing noise walls along the North East Link and addressing hooning on Yarra Boulevard.

“One of the most striking things I’m hearing on the doorstep is from lifelong Liberal voters who tell me they no longer recognise the party they have supported for decades,” Torney said. “They are deeply concerned about the direction it is taking on issues like climate and reconciliation, and about the growing influence of One Nation on the political debate.”

Endorsed by Voices for Deakin and a Whitehorse councillor since 2016, Ringwood Independent nominee Prue Cutts said she would focus on cost of living, community safety, roads, housing affordability and delivering better health, education and transport infrastructure.

“My approach is simple: listen, advocate and deliver — with proof, not just promises,” she said.

Two of the three One Nation nominees responded, both in writing.

Hawthorn candidate Paul Pribilovics and Ringwood hopeful John O’Connor identified crime as their main priority.

“Today, too many Victorians see offenders going in and out of the justice system and feel that nothing is changing,” O’Connor said.

Pribilovics said he wanted to wind back the government’s Activity Centres program.

All three Greens candidates responded via email.

Hawthorn candidate Kylie Rocha, Kew nominee Jackie Carter and Ringwood challenger Amy Mills highlighted plans to reduce grocery bills by 30 percent through publicly owned supermarkets and allocate five percent of the transport budget to safe cycling routes, including the proposed Box Hill-to-Hawthorn trail.

Rocha said if elected, she would advocate for less corporate lobbying of politicians.

“Progress is too slow across areas like climate, housing affordability and grocery prices, and when you look at who is donating to the major parties, you begin to understand why,” she said.

Read more at the link below:

In its 99-year history, the seat of Kew has only ever been held by a Liberal MP.

Independent candidate Sophie Torney, who received more than 20% of votes at the 2022 election, is having another crack in November.

The Eastern Melburnian tagged along during her door knocking over the weekend.

Watch our video below.

Question 1: Lilydale Community House moved to which new location recently?

Question 2: What is the name of the cinema on Camberwell Road in Hawthorn East?

Question 3: What was the former name of the district now known as Nunawading?

Question 4: What piece of infrastructure was Eastland Shopping Centre built on in the mid-1960s?

Question 5: What historic Ringwood hotel began life as a log cabin and a stop for regional stagecoaches in the 1850s?