Dandy a pollies’ battleground

Monash University’s senior lecturer in politics, Dr Nick Economou, this week told Star that cities that are Labor or Liberal strongholds are contested by party factions because there is no external threat.
Dr Economou said Greater Dandenong was a safe Labor area.
His forecast came after Greater Dandenong council Labor outcasts Alan Gordon and Maria Sampey revealed they would run again despite losing the support of the Labor Party after voting for Liberal supporter John Kelly to be mayor in November last year.
Dr Economou said it was important that residents read between the lines to discover who is running in their best interests.
“I’ve got to say that political parties are not as up front in the way in which they operate in Victoria as they are in other states,” Dr Economou said.
“Quite a lot of municipalities are either very safe Labor or Liberal areas, and you’ll find they don’t get so much competition between the two parties, rather it’s more of a competition within the parties.
“I have great faith in voters – federal, state and local – they can sniff out who are the legitimate candidates coming into elections.”
Dr Economou said despite party politics, he believed independents could still access local government without having to align themselves with a party.
“I think local government is as accessible to anyone as it ever was,” he said.
“It’s definitely more accessible to people than when Kennett had councils run by administrators.”