KINGSTON councillor Caroline White has declared her candidacy for the upcoming state election, promising to “put City of Kingston into administration” if elected.
Cr White, who is currently suspended from Kingston Council, will run as an independent for the seat of Clarinda currently occupied by Labor MP Meng Heang Tak. She has been a vocal critic of the state government during her time on council, particularly focusing on its handling of the Kingswood Golf Course redevelopment proposal.
Cr White announced her nomination for Clarinda on social media last week. She said “following the Labor state government’s decision to ram through Satterley’s noncompliant development plans for the Kingswood Golf Course in Dingley Village, and Labor spending half a million dollars of ratepayers’ money targeting me at Kingston eventually suspending me from my elected position as your local city councillor, I am thrilled to announce I’ll be running as your community independent for Clarinda in the upcoming Victorian state election.”
Cr White is serving a two-month suspension from council after a Local Government Victoria arbitration finding that she had breached the Model Councillor Code of Conduct. The arbiter’s finding read that “Cr White breached the relevant standards when she implied that Cr [Hadi] Saab improperly received a financial benefit from a grant to the Druze Community Charity of Victoria.”
In her campaign announcement, Cr White said “I am the only person that if elected will fight to overturn the [Kingswood] approval decision; put City of Kingston into administration for their involvement with the development and ‘allegations’ of perverting the course of justice; have a Royal Commission into IBAC & Victoria Police as I believe they are covering up for Labor in the lead up to this election; and depoliticise our police force because they should be serving us, not a corrupted Labor government.”
The state election takes place on 28 November. Other declared candidates for Clarinda are incumbent Meng Heang Tak (Labor), John Paganis (Liberal), Gavin Bain (One Nation), Conor Boyd-Eedle (Greens), and Kit Message (Victorian Socialists).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc News – 14 October 2026