Departing Ringwood MP Will Fowles has admitted he has no chance of winning the seat of Preston in Melbourne’s north, but says he’s running anyway to put the spotlight on Victoria’s housing crisis.
What happened? Fowles confirmed his nomination as an independent candidate for Preston on Monday November 9.
However, speaking to the Eastern Melburnian on Tuesday morning, Fowles said he was under no illusion that he could win the seat and was instead running to highlight the issue of affordable housing.
🗣️ “The contest in Preston is between Labor and the Greens,” he said. “This is not a campaign that's going to result in me being elected, but it is an opportunity to talk about issues that are important to me, particularly housing. We are still in a housing crisis, and that housing crisis is right across Melbourne.”
Market value: For Fowles, the story of redevelopment in Preston and its historic markets is a major concern.
Originally opened in 1970 and sitting in the City of Darebin in Melbourne’s north-east, the Preston Market has become the site of a power struggle between private developers seeking to build high-density residential apartments and the local community fighting to retain the heritage value of the building.
“Almost ten years ago, Darebin Council refused permits for approximately 300 apartments on part of the site,” Fowles said. “VCAT overturned that decision in 2017, yet those homes have still not been built. Its redevelopment presents an opportunity to preserve the fresh food market while delivering much-needed housing, including affordable homes.”
How’d we get here? Fowles was first elected as Labor MP for Burwood in 2018 before moving to Ringwood in 2022, where he retained the seat for Labor with a 7.53 percent margin.
He resigned from Labor in 2023 following allegations of sexual assault and has since represented Ringwood as an independent. Victoria Police arrested and interviewed Fowles before releasing him without charges. He has consistently denied the allegations.
In a statement released in late July, Fowles said he would not recontest Ringwood in the upcoming election, and that the decision followed “deep reflection”. Fowles added “baseless allegations” had impacted his ability to represent constituents.
One final push: When pressed on whether the campaign would be expensive, Fowles said it was “not a particularly large amount of money”, with the main nomination fee being $350.
“I’ll have a detailed housing policy that'll be released at some point in the next couple of weeks,” he said.