POLITICS
‘Voices’ raise concern among Liberals Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au THE Voices of Mornington Peninsula group says any Australian Electoral Commission investigation into its financial sources would reveal an organisation “funded entirely by kindhearted and frustrated locals who are disillusioned with party politics”. The response followed reports last week that federal Liberals had asked the AEC to make sure grassroots groups calling themselves “Voices for” or “Voices of” are obeying finance rules. “Is this a joke? A party that receives millions of dollars from corporate donors, including those in fossil fuel industries, is questioning a grassroots community organisation that values transparency and accountability,” VMP secretary Janelle Magee said. “Our democracy would be all the better for a full and frank disclosure of political funding by all political parties. “People from all walks of life donate to VMP because they want to support an organisation that aims to fix our broken political system.” Ms Magee said VMP was not a political party but “a group of dedicated local volunteers who wish to see a return to a participatory democracy”. VMP is one of 40 community groups across Australia that plan to have a “communityendorsed independent candidate” at the next federal election. Voices for Mornington Peninsula group, which is seeking a candidate to stand against Flinders MP Greg Hunt, has a donations page on its website that states it cannot accept “foreign donations” and provides a link the AEC regulations. The group originally said it would close expressions of interest by potential candidates
MEMBERS of Voices of Mornington Peninsula say they are looking forward to when they can resume their “kitchen conferences”. Picture: Supplied on 15 August but has extended that date because the federal election “now looks more likely to be closer to May 2022”. VMP says its directors will shortlist potential candidates for its members to choose their preferred representative. Across Australia 40 “Voices” groups are targeting federal Coalition MPs, including Health and Aged Care Minister Mr Hunt, who in November celebrates 20 years in federal parliament. VMP’s chair of directors, Louise Page, said “Voices” groups “run on the smell of an oily rag compared to the major parties”.
Ms Page is urging VMP members to watch director Craig Reucassel’s soon to be released Big Deal, which looks at the influence of money in politics. “I was able to watch the Big Deal ahead of its release … [and] they report that $1billion in ‘dark money’ has been received by [Australia’s] two major parties in the past decade,” Ms Page said. “That’s not total donations, it’s the donations none of us know about. Then there’s things like accounting firms giving $1m to campaigns and receiving $700m in contracts.
“[The parties] don’t even release their donations until well after elections. According to the Big Deal, we have some of the worst political donation regulations in the world. Even worse than America.” Ms Page said VMP would probably screen the Big Deal online due to ongoing lockdown restrictions. Other directors of VMP are Michael Stephens, Sean Willmore, Adrian Burrage and Ms Magee. VMP has indicated it will become involved at “all levels of government”. “With your help, VMP seeks to restore and promote a participatory democracy where community voices are represented and elected members act with honesty, integrity, and accountability. Better democracy leads to better policy and a better future,” its website states. The group says it has “VMP hubs” around the peninsula (Briars, Nepean, Cerberus, Red Hill, Seawinds and Watson) to “tailor communications and activities to their area’s particular geography, demographics and facilities”. The hub names are the same as the six wards of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. The groups, forced to meet online, “are planning for the day they are able to get out into their neighbourhoods to chat with others, hold events and more”. Its surveys show issues for the independent candidate chosen by the group to address include the environment and climate change, over-development, aged care and transport. The group originally said it would close expressions of interest by potential candidates on 15 August, has extended that date because the federal election “now looks more likely to be closer to May 2022”. VMP says the directors will shortlist potential candidates for its members to choose their preferred representative.
A Christmas that will be like no other By Zoe McKenzie* POLITICIANS of all persuasions at all levels of government have started talking about our upcoming COVIDChristmas. With Victoria’s lockdown indefinitely extended, it has become clear the simple pleasures of life, like meeting up with friends, walking into a bar, or sitting down for a meal in a restaurant, are unlikely to return until we reach the magical marker of 70 or 80 per cent vaccination of all people over 16. Recent analysis of the rate of vaccination suggests Victoria will reach 70 per cent at the start of November, and 80 per cent by the end of November. Whether Christmas does indeed come in December, however, appears to depend on the performance of all jurisdictions. The Morrison govern-
ment has suggested we will not move to phase C under the Doherty Institute modelling until all jurisdictions reach the threshold. Given the growing gap between New South Wales, the ACT, Tasmania and the rest of the country, our “definitely-not-Freedom Day” 80 per cent attainment may not arrive much before mid-December. What happens on the Mornington Peninsula in mid-December? Our population booms from its customary 150,000 to a quarter of a million people, and probably more this year as Victorians are likely to avoid borderfrogger and stay closer to home, like they did last summer. No government has yet defined the rules of our post-80 per cent lives. Unlike other states and territories
seeming to cower behind the untested provisions of the Fair Work Act and discrimination laws, NSW has gone out and made vaccination mandatory for a raft of customer-facing professions, and also sent clear messages that bars, restaurants, hospitality and the muchvaunted vertical consumption will only be accessible to those who can prove their fully-vaxed status. NSW is already exploring a tech solution which marries the ServiceNSW check-in with Medicare’s vaccination certificates, meaning, upon check-in with a smart-phone, the patron will get a harder-to-forge good to go pass, easily shown to the venue’s gatekeeper for swift service, or at least seating. There is little evidence the Victorian government is as advanced, nor any sign that a post-80 per cent playbook
of rules is about to be circulated. When asked about their plans, most businesses on the peninsula say, “I will do whatever the government tells me to do”. Fair enough, but if double jabbed becomes the rule from early December, the testing ground for this new approach will be the cafes, bars, gyms, community clubs and public transport of the peninsula. Anyone who has tried to get a coffee on Main Street, Sorrento in January will tell you the last thing they need is an overwhelmed 15-year-old checking methodically their Medicare certificate before they are allowed to order their lattes. More jarring, however, is the shear mathematics of the situation. If double-jabbed is the ticket to ride,
drink, eat, sail, sit, then those in the AstraZeneca camp need to be jabbed today. Like actually today, in order to have their second dose the optimum 12 weeks later, and thus be “immune” by mid-December. Any parent of a 16-year-old will tell you, there’s currently no Pfizer bookings available before November, and the new 6-8 week second dose delay means they too won’t be welcome much before mid-December. Given the history of governments not thinking about the needs of the peninsula, it’s urgent we start planning for ourselves. *Zoe McKenzie is principal of Trade and Investment Advisory and a board member of business lobby group, Committee for Mornington Peninsula.
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7 September 2021
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