Southbank votes

Southbank Residents Group President Tony Penna predicts Southbank will have a big influence in the outcome of the seat of Albert Park in November.

“I roughly estimate about 10,000 residents living in Southbank. There is something like 42,000 registered voters in the electorate, so Southbank makes up almost a quarter of that,” he said.

“So bearing in mind that a quarter is all based in one spot, you’d want to look after them wouldn’t you?”

Later this month, the group has invited Labor MP Martin Foley, Liberal candidate Shannon Eeles and Greens candidate David Collis to the Boyd Community Hub to take part in a Southbank community forum.

However, while Mr Penna is the first to concede that life in Southbank is pretty good, he said from a political perspective, it all came back to where candidates stand on principle.

“I don’t think there are a lot of issues in Southbank, we’re generally pretty happy here but it’s more about when we feel we’ve just been screwed – it’s principle,” he said.

“So I think the election issues in Southbank will revolve around principles, where do people stand on principles?”

While overshadowing and education pose as the two major election issues, the Southbank Residents Group president believes the Southbank vote will be based on three key areas.

“It will be all about what these candidates are offering Southbank and the issues in Southbank will all be about planning, design and amenity,” he said.

“It will be interesting to see the arguments they put together and the vision that they put together.”

Mr Penna said he anticipated the development of Fishermans Bend and the East-West Link would also provide interesting points of discussion for the event.

He encouraged as many Southbank residents as possible to come along and participate in the forum, in what he believes could be a potential vote decider.

“I don’t know what the figures are but I’ve heard there is about 0.6 per cent in it, which is pretty thin – only a few hundred votes,” he said.

The “meet the candidates” community question and answer forum will be held on Tuesday, October 28 at the Boyd Community Hub starting at 6pm.