The Voices of Kooyong group has more than 4000 registered volunteers who live in the Southern Metropolitan region who could be redirected to state campaigns.
Two prominent Liberals – health spokesperson Crozier and shadow treasurer Davis – represent the Southern Metropolitan region in the Victorian upper house.
Members of the group are currently analysing data from the Kooyong doorknocking campaign to identify issues important to residents.
Another member, who also spoke anonymously, said the pandemic, dissatisfaction with the two-party system and the desire for more local representatives were all identified as key state issues that could form part of the policy platform for any independents running in November.
“It must be grounded in values, it can’t just be driven by displeasure with the government or dissatisfaction with the local member,” the member said.
Business Council of Australia director Jess Wilson, a former adviser to Frydenberg, has been preselected to run for the Liberals in the state seat of Kew, which is currently held by outgoing MP Tim Smith on a margin of 4.5 per cent.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy (left), shadow health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier and shadow treasurer David Davis.Credit:Eddie Jim
Matthew Guy represents the state seat of Bulleen with a notional margin of 5.4 following a redistribution last year. When asked whether, in light of the federal election result, he was confident he would retain his seat, Guy said while he believed he could win, “no seat is safe”.
The “Voices of” movement might not run a candidate in the state seat of Hawthorn, which is held by Labor and being contested by former shadow attorney-general John Pesutto. Insiders believe Pesutto could be hard to beat and is generally considered more progressive than other Liberal candidates and MPs.
Rob Baillieu, the son of former Liberal premier Ted Baillieu and one of the founding members of the Voices of Kooyong campaign, said the biggest barrier to independent candidates at the state level was their community’s desire for them.
“Communities have to champion change themselves,” he said.
The co-ordinating group for Voices of Goldstein – the organisation that backed high-profile former ABC journalist Zoe Daniel’s successful bid for federal parliament – will also meet this week and begin discussions about whether to run candidates in two other state seats.
But one member of the group, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there had already been preliminary conversations about running independents in the Brighton and Caulfield electorates.
Brighton is held by Newbury by a notional margin of 0.6 per cent and sits within the federal electorate of Goldstein. Wilson, a one-time rising Liberal star, lost Goldstein after a 10 per cent swing to his two party-preferred margin at the federal election.
The group is also considering standing a candidate in the neighbouring state seat of Caulfield, held by Southwick by just 0.1 per cent, making it the most marginal Liberal-held seat in Victoria.
Liberal MP James Newbury, the member for the state seat of Brighton, could be challenged by a teal independentCredit:Penny Stephens
Caulfield, which sits on the border of the federal seats of Goldstein and Macnamara, has been represented by the conservatives since its creation in 1927. At the 2018 election, Southwick suffered a 4.6 per cent swing against him.
Gipson, one of the founding members of the Voices of Goldstein group, would not confirm whether the organisation would put forward a candidate at the November poll, saying a decision would not be likely until after the group’s annual general meeting scheduled for late next month.
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But Gipson said Daniel’s federal success had “stimulated” the community and residents now “felt like they had agency for the first time”.
Climate 200, the independents’ fundraising vehicle, is undertaking a review following its extraordinary intervention in the federal election.
Following the election, Climate 200 convener Simon Holmes a Court said the group would reflect “on what has been achieved and what might happen next”.
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