NEWS DESK
Vote returns for poll Chat can make a difference losers, and winner Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au
Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au ALTHOUGH they “invested” thousands of dollars on their election campaigns, six of the nine failed candidates for Flinders have been repaid more than $10,000 by the Australian Electoral Commission and may have more to come. The AEC automatically pays more than $2 a vote to candidates who receive more than 4% of the primary vote. Candidates can also claim the same amount of money a vote over the minimum 4% by claiming against their campaign costs. The money is paid by the AEC to registered political parties and to candidates standing as independents. Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Despi O’Connor who, as an independent candidate for Flinders received 7.24% of the primary vote, was eligible to automatically receive $10,656 from the AEC. She can also claim $2.914 for each vote over that nominal 4%, almost doubling the automatic payment. O’Connor, who was also paid $12,000 of her council allowance while campaigning, said she will be working with her volunteer bookkeeper “to determine what I need to claim” (“O’Connor to donate council election ‘pay’” The News 21/6/22). The other independent candidate for Flinders, Voices of Mornington Peninsula-endorsed Sarah Russell, said she had submitted a claim for an extra $4465, bringing her total AEC payment to $15,121. Nearly $7000 would be reimbursed to one of her supporters who paid for three trucks promot-
ing her campaign. Russell said she had put $10,000 into her campaign fund but did not intend to claim it back and would add any further refund to a “kitty” to start up a community project, including a website. The “community matters” project would be able to “start immediately” with the $8300 remainder of the AEC payments. The results for Flinders as recorded by the AEC show six of the 10 Flinders candidates attracted more than four per cent of the 104,589 votes cast. The highest number of first preference votes, 43,013 (43.9%), assured the election of Liberal Zoe McKenzie. Labor’s Surbhi Snowball received 21,487 votes (21.73%), followed by The Greens Colin Lane, 9293 votes (9.4%), independent Despi O’Connor, 7163 (7.24%), independent Sarah Russell, 5189 (5.25%) and United Australia Party’s Alex Van Der End, 4472 (4.52%). Candidates who failed to make the required 4% to obtain a payment from the AEC were Cyndi Marr, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (3.42%), Chrysten Abraham, Liberal Democrats (2.39%), Pamela Engelander, Animal Justice Party (2.08%) and Earl Jefferson, Australian Federation Party (0.49%). On a two-candidate preferred basis, McKenzie received 56.7% of the vote with Snowball getting 43.3%. McKenzie’s win showed a small swing to the Liberal party in the seat of Flinders which had been held by Liberal Greg Hunt for the previous 21 years. For details about election finance go to: aec. gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/public_ funding/files/election-funding-guide.pdf
SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Mornington student Laura Kemp has seen first-hand the significant difference that social connections can make to the lives of the elderly living in aged care or retirement homes. The year 10 Padua College student is the youngest volunteer with the Chatty Cafe charity, which aims to bring people together for a coffee and a chat at designated venues around the Mornington Peninsula. Laura said that after witnessing the profound influence that regular social interaction had on her great-grandmother’s wellbeing, especially throughout lockdowns, she was inspired to act. “I heard about Chatty Cafe so I approached them to see if I could start a scheme that is targeted to elderly people, so either people in aged care homes could meet at a venue, or we could go out to aged care homes,” she said. “I’ve approached quite a few aged care venues on the peninsula who said they would be interested in getting involved, so we just have to do a bit of planning so it can get off the ground.” Kemp is almost an expert in facilitating connections, and in the past initiated a similar scheme where primary school students were encouraged to write letters to people in aged care homes. “That was really fun, and the letters that they would write to people in aged care homes were so sweet, and it’s so lovely to see how thoughtful they are,” she said. “I have seen the enormous impact that something as simple as a letter or a chat can have on someone’s life.” The Chatty Cafe scheme is a charity that encourages all sorts of hospitality venues across Australia such as cafes, restaurants, clubs, pubs, community centres and libraries to provide a shared “chatty” table where customers can sit if
LAURA Kemp may only be 16, but she sees the need to keep elderly people socially connected. they are happy to talk to other customers. Chatty volunteers, if requested by the venue, can sit at the table to help introduce the concept to customers and chat to them. To connect with the Mornington Peninsula Chatty Café scheme email mornpenchattycafe@ gmail.com or on Facebook @chattycafeaustralia
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13 July 2022
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