Belgrave decides campaign

By Ed Merrison
VOTERS in outer eastern Melbourne, the front line on which the election war has been waged, will soon deliver their pre-election no man’s land to the winning side.
The campaign has culminated in a battle over Belgrave, a township in which the seats of Gembrook and Monbulk meet.
It is perhaps fitting for the race to come to something of a head over the Belgrave bypass with voters to decide whether to carry on along the same track or choose a new path.
Of the hills electorates, Labor MP James Merlino’s Monbulk seat would require the biggest swing of 8.29 per cent to fall into Liberal hands, while Ferntree Gully and Gembrook look tighter at 2.29 per cent and 1.59 per cent respectively.
“Whichever party holds the seats in the outer east, they’re always marginal and it’s always a tightly fought contest right across the region,” Mr Merlino said.
“It’s been fought in good spirits on both sides and I’ve enjoyed the campaign.”
Mr Merlino said the outer east was generally understood to be the front line of this year’s election and said it had received a lot of attention.
“There have been a lot of exciting initiatives we’ve announced over the last few weeks, from the very small to the very large,” he said.
Ferntree Gully Liberal candidate Nick Wakeling agreed it had been a well-run campaign but believed State Government interest in the outer east was overdue.
“It’s interesting that in an election year the Government has rediscovered the outer east and decided to make up for seven years of inaction by making some belated project announcements,” he said.
Mr Wakeling said despite the narrow margins in the local seats, it would be a tough task to overcome the incumbents.
“It will come down to the voters but it was important we offered ourselves as a credible alternative with clear plans,” he said.