FORMER mayor Michael O’Reilly will stand for the Liberals in Frankston at the November state election.
The Times understands O’Reilly was preselected about four weeks ago. His candidacy was announced on the Liberals’ website last week.
O’Reilly served as a Frankston councillor for eight years before losing his spot at the 2020 local government elections. He served as mayor between 2018 and 2019. He works as a postman in Frankston.
O’Reilly told The Times that the state’s health crisis and state government debt inspired him to put his hand up. He said “I’ve never nominated for state and federal parliament but with this current state government, the crisis with the hospital system, and the blowout in state debt, I saw an opportunity.”
“We need to be cutting waste in the budget. The state government’s responsibility is to fund emergency services and currently too much money is wasted on pet projects. People are waiting for ambulances that never show up, this is not this health system of a first world country,” he said. “We would redirect funds from the Cheltenham to Box Hill railway towards improving our health system. We need to cut the wait list for elective surgery too, so many people are in pain waiting for something that realistically should be a universal right.”
Although no big money promises have been made by the Victorian Liberals in Frankston yet, O’Reilly said that he plans to advocate for funding for the Frankston Basketball Stadium and the Frankston train line extension.
“It’s $1.5 billion for twin tracks to Baxter, but there are six other options. The line can go to Leawarra, or to Langwarrin. The project I believe should go ahead, and that is realistic, is twin tracks to Langwarrin stopping at Leawarra and the university. It will cost $650 million to $850 million – when you consider the billions committed to the train loop to Box Hill I think it’s reasonable,” he said.
The federal government and Frankston Council have both committed $15 million each to the Frankston Basketball Stadium redevelopment, but state government funding is still being sought so the project can proceed. O’Reilly was part of the Frankston Council which elected to abandon a plan to upgrade the baseball stadium in 2018 (“Basketball money on way to park”, The Times, 17/4/2018).
The Liberal candidate says he met with Frankston Council last week to discuss projects it wants funded.
Frankston is currently held by Labor’s Paul Edbrooke with a 9.74 per cent margin. In 2014 just 300 votes decided the seat, but Edbrooke enjoyed a huge swing towards him in 2018.
In neighbouring Carrum, Bec Buchanan is expected to be announced as the Liberals’ candidate.
The state election will take place on 26 November.
