Paltry promises

Andrew Mathieson
Major parties’ election promises have short-changed Geelong’s northern suburbs in comparison to other local seats.
Labor has pledged about $4 million in projects specifically for the state seat of Lara, while the Liberal candidate is unable to come up with any costings.
In comparison, major party seat-specific promises for Bellarine reach $10.5 million and one project in South Barwon, an Anglesea Road bypass extension, is worth $125 million.
Bellarine and South Barwon are the region’s most marginal seats but Lara is the safest with a 22 per cent margin to Labor.
The party’s candidate for Lara, John Eren, considered the seat “totally different” to Bellarine and South Barwon.
But he said the Government was not taking Lara for granted.
The Government was aware Geelong’s northern suburbs needed the most attention, Mr Eren said.
He believed that the biggest issue facing the seat was its high rate of unemployment.
He also said a feasibility study to “beautify” Corio and Norlane commission areas with 1000 new homes over the next two years would be worth “in the millions”.
Mr Eren labelled the Liberals uncommitted to Lara.
“I’m sure the Liberal party’s commitment to the area is zilch, except for generic (state) policy,” he said.
Liberal candidate Angelo Kakouros could not provide costings on Lara-specific Liberal promises.
But he said he was sure Mr Eren was hiding the Government’s controversial plan to seize planning control for Geelong’s port to use it for storing toxic chemicals.
“As far as I am concerned, they cannot be trusted,” he said.
Deakin University politics lecturer Dr Geoff Robinson said a Labor loss in Lara was “fairly inconceivable”.
He pointed out that Labor had even kept a stranglehold on the seat during the party’s disastrous 1992 campaign in the wake of the Pyramid collapse.
But Dr Robinson warned that Labor should expect to lose some ground.
“I think probably the replacement of the local Labor MP, Peter Loney, has caused some bad blood over the standard accusations of branch-stacking,” he said.
The best the Liberals could hope for was a moral victory.
“I would think if they got (a swing) over five per cent they would be pleased. If they got it over 10 per cent they would be very, very pleased,” Dr Robinson said.