THE number of candidates putting their hands up for the Dunkley by-election is growing. Earlier this month, the Labor and Liberal parties each preselected candidates for the upcoming by-election. Labor has picked Women’s Spirit Project founder Jodie Belyea (pictured below left), and Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy will run for the Liberals. The Libertarian Party, formerly the Liberal Democrats, will contest the seat. Chrysten Abraham (below right) has been confirmed as the party’s candidate. Abraham, who ran for the seat of Frankston at the 2022 state election, said “I will stand against tax increases and government interference in how we live…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
THE federal government will “consider” the recommendations of a gambling inquiry chaired by former Dunkley MP Peta Murphy, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says. The inquiry into online gambling harm chaired by Murphy published its final report in June 2023. Six months on, the federal government has not committed to implementing all of its 31 recommendations. Last week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Frankston that the federal government would consider the recommendations, but did not commit to taking action on all of them. “The federal government commits to considering all of the recommendations that are in the report, which…
FORMER Frankston mayor Glenn Aitken has been re-elected to Frankston Council. Aitken was elected via countback on Monday, 15 January. The countback was held to fill the vacancy left by Steven Hughes’ resignation. Aitken is a veteran of Frankston Council. He served as mayor in 2007, and sat on council until 2020. He was defeated at the 2020 local government elections, but has remained involved. He has been a frequent fixture at council meetings as a member of the public during this term. In 2017, Aitken made headlines by bringing a jar of dog poo into a public Frankston Council…
MAJOR party candidates for the Dunkley by-election have been locked in. The death of Peta Murphy in December left the seat of Dunkley vacant. On Thursday 11 January, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that Jodie Belyea would be Labor’s candidate. On Sunday the Liberal Party preselected incumbent Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy to be its candidate. Jodie Belyea is the founder of the Women’s Spirit Project. Her organisation offers a free 11-week program for women who have experienced family violence, mental health issues, poverty, and unemployment (“Women’s group celebrates success” The Times 21/6/22). The program has run on the Mornington Peninsula…
CRICKET PROVINCIAL MPCA CRICKET returned after the Christmas break on Saturday. The first day of two-day matches were played across the peninsula. At Bruce Park, the travelling Red Hill are off to a good start against Heatherhill. Red Hill batted all day long on Saturday. An excellent middle order partnership between Will Cooper and Andy Restein helped them reach a final total of 9/177. Restein scored 50 from 79 deliveries. Cooper played an important supporting role, scoring 33 from 140 deliveries. Heatherhill’s Brett Maxwell was the pick of the bowlers. He took 4/35 from 19 overs, wiping out most of…