Region’s voters at political crossroad

Peter Farago
WHATEVER the outcome of tomorrow’s election, the political landscape in Geelong will be changed forever.
The Australian Labor Party has clawed its way to within striking distance in Corangamite, with sitting Liberal Stewart McArthur balanced in a knife-edge.
Labor this week has thrown bundles of money at Mr McArthur, aiming to knock him off.
But it’s where the money is spent that’s important.
Labor took a swing in Corangamite last election but couldn’t budge Liberal voters in the blue ribbon rural sections of the seat.
This time that’s where the last-minute money is aimed for Darren Cheeseman, like Labor’s trump card – duplication of Princes Highway between Waurn Ponds and Winchelsea.
Stewart McArthur has staked his reputation on the fact the Princes Highway is no longer a national road.
If voters approve of Labor’s last-minute spending spree, it could be only the stake that Mr McArthur is left holding.
In Corio, sitting MP Gavan O’Connor is at a crossroad.
If he wins he could shape the next government and shake up local politics.
If, as bookies believe, he loses to Labor’s Richard Marles, will he disappear quietly into the political darkness?
Mr O’Connor launched his campaign on the back of issues like Geelong’s cash-for-councillors scandal involving prominent ALP members and claims of Labor’s branch-stacking in the region that led to his defeat at preselection.
Hardly the usual federal election fodder.
If Mr O’Connor wins, how will he, in his words, clean up this “cesspool”?
But if he loses, does it mean residents of Geelong finally want the cash-for-councillors scandal, which embroiled half the council’s elected officials, finally buried.
Mr Marles could be the third Member for Corio in 40 years on Sunday.
But how would he change Geelong’s impact on federal politics?
Mr Marles has kept industrial relations, education, etcetera in the public eye.
But he’s also kept himself in the public’s attention supporting a series of small, local projects usually beyond the realm of federal MPs, like building local parks and calls to reopen old train lines and tackling hoons.
He’s appeared to have his eye on the ball while behind the scenes his campaign secretly slings mud to deal with Mr O’Connor’s vitriol.
The outcome of both polls will also impact on the level of debate in the region.
If Labor wins both seats, it will hold every major political office in the region.
That will probably also spill into the third tier of government – the City of Greater Geelong.
If Labor is in government everywhere, will councillors elect a Labor-aligned mayor to keep the dialogue open?
Labor stands to win big this weekend. Will Geelong?