2012 Victorian local council election : far left and far right

A is for Anarchy

The indefatigable Uncle Joe Toscano is again running for the position of (the other) Mayor of Melbourne.* Joe hopes that — with the assistance of new-fangled social media — he and his running mate Jean Ely will be able to come fifth, fourth or even — perhaps — third in the contest.

The last time Joe contested an election was in July when he asked the people of Melbourne District to bump him into state parliament. In a field of 16 candidates, Joe came in 10th place with 208 votes (0.74%). Sadly, the leadership of the world socialist movement fared less well, with Patrick O’Connor scoring just 162 class-conscious votes.

Y is for Yarra Soviet

The Socialist Party is continuing on its quest to conquer the City of Yarra. Having already established a beachhead in the form of Steve Jolly (Langridge Ward) and Anthony Main (Melba Ward), these 21st Century Bolsheviks will be hoping that Mel Gregson (Langridge), Chris Dite and David Elliott (Nicholls) will soon be joining them, transforming the Council into a Workers’ Paradise.

Socialist Alliance

The Socialist Alliance (SA) is standing Sue Bolton in Moreland, one of 24 candidates hoping to obtain one of four seats available in the North-East ward. In Geelong, the SA reckons Sue Bull would make a great Mayor.

SA stood several candidates in the last round of elections (2008), none of whom were able to have much of an impact. In Queenscliffe, Chris Johnson got 102 votes (3.15%) while in Maribyrnong (Stony Creek) Stuart Martin fared better with 811 votes (18.92%) and in Wattle Ward Margarita Windisch also scored reasonably (607 votes/12.43%), Further afield, in Geelong (Brownbill) Lisa Gleeson got 1060 votes (11.79%) and in Cowie Bronwyn Jennings got 1144 votes (10.82%).

Aussies for Golden Dawn!

Unlike their recent efforts in their home state of NSW, in Victoria the Australia First Party is fielding just one candidate: John Carbonari in the Stony Creek Ward of Maribyrnong City Council. John will be losing to nine other candidates. His candidate statement is a stirring call-to-arms:

That’s enough. I will stop the rates from going up. The old council has wasted too much money. We can’t afford to pay these big rates. It’s time for a change. My main policy is to listen to the ratepayers of Maribyrnong and put forward any issue of concern. I want to be the voice of the public to reduce rates that are ridiculously high, especially for pensioners. I want to appeal to the younger generation to prevent parks from being sold, whilst keeping the existing parks and ovals clean for many generations now and in the future to enjoy. I am the endorsed candidate for the Australia First Party.

No preferences submitted.

The vast majority of councils will be having postal elections; results will be determined by the end of October.