By Cam Lucadou-Wells
It feels nothing like Labor heartland.
Days out from the State Election, an early voter centre in Noble Park North – normally what would be a sea of Labor red – was a carnival of ‘anti-Dan’ discontent.
Upbeat opponents were tipping a boilover in what was regarded as a very safe seat of Mulgrave held by Premier Daniel Andrews.
However Labor volunteers – vastly outnumbered – remained quietly confident.
They were a distance from a hive of opponents hovering at the voter centre doors – Team Cook, Liberal, Freedom Party, Family First, United Australia Party among them.
Outside are Liberal roadside signs flashing ‘Put Dan Last’ and independent Ian Cook’s bus and van with the slogan ‘Honk if you hate corruption’.
Meanwhile, directly across Princes Highway, Freedom Party supporters have occupied outside Premier Daniel Andrews’s electorate office for ‘High Noon’ protests for more than 30 consecutive days.
The protests have sparked flashpoints, with a supporter reportedly videoed placing a screw under a car’s tyre outside the office on Thursday.
Victoria Police confirmed a 40-year-old Epping man was charged with attempted criminal damage.
He was bailed to appear in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 1 May.
The man was also being investigated over reportedly threatening another man during a verbal argument at the site the day before.
There were no reported physical injuries, but the investigation remains ongoing, Victoria Police stated.
Meanwhile, helpers in ‘Team Cook’ caps have descended from all parts of the state. A cattle farmer had driven down from Mansfield, a business owner from the western suburbs handed how-to-vote slips.
Mr Cook estimates about 25 per cent of early voters are telling him “I’ll vote for you”.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to scare (Labor). I’m not one to say we’re going to win but there’s a lot of positivity.
“We’re in with a chance.”
Mr Cook noted that the betting market for Mulgrave had shortened for him from 50-to-1 to 6-to-1. Mr Andrews’s odds had gone from unbackable $1.01 to a still strong $1.10.
As late as 21 November, one betting market listed Mr Cook as $4 to win and Mr Andrews $1.20.
Though still the underdog, Mr Cook said many were buzzing about Channel 9’s Under Investigation ‘slug gate’ episode a few nights earlier.
The program investigated the controversial shutdown of Mr Cook’s business I Cook Foods by health authorities in 2019. The three year fight since had led to his ‘anti-corruption’ election platform.
Mr Cook was buoyed by damning reports about the ‘preference whisperer’ Glenn Dreury’s manipulation of the Group Voting Ticket system in the Upper House.
“Someone might challenge the election result over that,” Mr Cook says.
Indeed the following day, Liberal candidate Michael Piastrino posted that the election should be postponed and the government put into administration due to the invalid ‘group voting tickets’.
“The election can no longer be deemed valid.”
He posted he would speak on the issue outside Daniel Andrews’s office, alongside Freedom Party’s leader Morgan Jonas and Mulgrave candidate Aidan McLindon.
At the voter centre, Mr Piastrino estimated he had support from 50 per cent of early voters who had “had enough of Dan”.
“(This seat) is going to be between myself and Ian (Cook).
“Dan’s really nervous, he’s not even down here.
“He should be a real man, a real leader and not away playing with his golf balls.”
The Endeavour Hills hairdresser and boxing promoter joined the hustings because of “the lockdowns and the way they’ve been treated”.
“I’ve had a lot of friends lose a lot. I’m not here for the fame but for the people.
“I’ll never walk behind or in front of any Victorian. I’ll walk side by side with every Victorian.”
A few weeks ago, Mr Piastrino apologised for “inappropriate language” after calling for Mr Andrews to be “brought to justice for the murder of 800 people”.
But that’s just one controversy compared to a stream of scandals on both sides of politics.
IBAC investigations of the Premier, a Liberal donation scandal being referred to IBAC, ‘red mist’ threats against Daniel Andrews, counter-claims of ‘Nazi’ supporters and a Upper House lead candidate being excluded from the Liberal party room.
About 20 metres from the anti-Dan throng, Labor volunteer Arabella Davies said her party would win “for sure”.
This was because young people were in favour of Labor’s progressive agenda such as climate change and its renewable-energy SEC response.
“Labor’s policies are for everybody. I don’t know why you’d trash Medicare … all the things that Labor pushes is for the benefit of everyone.”
Labor South Eastern Metropolitan MP Lee Tarlamis said the voter centre had been expected to be a “difficult booth to staff”.
“They’re going to get up in our faces and try to get a rise out of you. We bite our tongues for as long as we can.
“Across the booths, I’ve noticed the (other parties) are very close. You get the impression that there’s some sort of collaboration.”
Mr Tarlamis labelled the Freedom Party as a “vehicle for people who have extreme views”.
“Some are quite extreme. They’ve rallied around those anti-lockdown, anti-vax and that ‘we don’t want to be told what to do’ agenda.
“There doesn’t seem to be a positive agenda.”
Mr Tarlamis was tipping Labor would win overall with a reduced majority. In the Upper House, the pathway to 21 seats would be “vexed and require a lot of work”.
He said it was hard to gauge the voter mood in Mulgrave, with many not accepting any how-to-vote cards.
“I haven’t seen any polling. One thing is that people feel pressured going through those gauntlets.”
