Cost of living, housing crisis front of mind for Aston’s early voters

Rising living costs and the housing crisis were the most burning issues expressed on Saturday by early voters in Aston, many who of whom were frustrated to be back at the polling booths for the third time in a year.

By early afternoon, locals eager to vote in the impending federal byelection were far outnumbered by political candidates and their staff outside the early voting centre at the Boronia Community Church of Christ.

Voters at Ferntree Gully Road Business Hub polling station during the byelection for Aston.Credit:Paul Jeffers

A byelection will be held on Saturday, April 1, in the seat in Melbourne’s outer-eastern suburbs seat after the sitting Aston MP and former Liberal cabinet minister Alan Tudge quit politics in February, just months after being re-elected.

Despite enduring several recent political scandals – including his affair with his former staffer Rachelle Miller, and his involvement in the failed Robo-debt scheme, which is the subject of a royal commission – support for Tudge and the Liberals endured among some voters in Boronia.

Megan Baker said she voted for Tudge in the federal election and would vote Liberal again because she trusted the party to deal with cost of living crisis more effectively than Labor.

“We really like Tudgey, he did good stuff,” Baker said.

Aston voter Megan Baker.Credit:Paul Jeffers

“I have voted for him for years. But with him gone, this decision has been a little tougher. I am voting Liberal again though as for me the biggest issue is the cost of living.”

At another early voting centre in nearby Scoresby, voters appeared more disillusioned by the major political parties in the lead-up to the poll on April 1. Several locals who spoke to The Sunday Age said they had no real interest in voting in the byelection, but wanted to avoid getting fined.

“It’s an absolute joke we only just voted in the last federal election,” one resident said. “I’m getting really tired of this.”

Aston local, Bethany Henry, 21, voted for Greens candidate Angelica Di Camillo, citing a failure by the Labor and Liberal parties to address issues facing young people and a lack of public transport in the area as the reason behind her vote.

“For young people like myself it is absolutely impossible these days to break into the housing market,” she said. “It is just so out of reach financially. I didn’t come from a family where parents can just like give me money or put their housing in as collateral, so it’s impossible.”

Bethany Henry voted for the Greens.Credit:Paul Jeffers

Julie Grint of the Aston Independent group said was undecided on who she was voting for yet. But she was certain of who she was putting last: the Liberals.

She had list of grievances ranging from the Liberal party’s failed Robo-debt scheme and former prime minister Scott Morrison’s decision to secretly appointed himself to five additional ministries.

Julie Grint at Ferntree Gully Road Business Hub polling station.Credit:Paul Jeffers

“I’m sick of the misconduct,” she said. “Everyone here is just concerned about paying the bills, paying the mortgage and putting food on the table. In my view, no political party so far has voiced a clear way forward.”

Roshena Campbell, the Liberal Party’s candidate for the Aston byelection, who was outside the Boronia Community Church of Christ, chatting to voters said the number one issue raised by locals was the cost of living.

“Mortgages rates are going up, a lot of families are really struggling with rising grocery prices and how to make ends meet,” she said.

Asked about Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto’s attempt to expel MP Moira Deeming over her involvement in an anti-transgender rally attended by neo-Nazis, and whether that may influence votes in the byelection, Campbell said it had not been mentioned by voters during pre polling.

“I’ve been on pre-poll for six days now and nobody in Aston has raised it with me,” she said.

Campbell also batted away questions about whether she supported the action taken by Pesutto.

“Everyone in our society should be entitled to safety and dignity … I’m not running a commentary on how the state parliamentary party runs its process,” she said.

However, when asked about the Indigenous Voice to parliament, Campbell said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was yet to provide enough detail.

“The most burning question for me that the Prime Minister hasn’t been able to answer is how it’s going to make a real difference on the ground to disadvantaged indigenous people,” she said.“My concern is making sure that we improve Indigenous disadvantage, not increase bureaucracy.”

Labor’s Aston candidate Mary Doyle was also mingling with voters in Boronia and said she had observed a lot of “residual anger” about the Robo-debt scheme among locals who were coming out to vote.

“The stuff that’s come out as has just been astounding and people are pretty angry about that,” Doyle said.

She added that early voters had also expressed frustration at having to vote in an election for the third time in less than a year. “They’re a bit cranky about that,” she said.

However, Doyle threw strong support behind the Indigenous Voice to parliament and said hoped all Australians would get behind it.

“That’s what I love about democracy,” she said. “These things can go ahead, and the whole country can progress together.”

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