These candidates want to represent the west – without living in their electorate
Despite running for the seat of Sydenham, in Melbourne’s western suburbs, Liberal candidate Nathalie Moussi can’t call herself a local.
In fact, she owns a house in Torquay just minutes from the beach and says she splits her time between that property and another in Melbourne that’s outside the Sydenham boundary.
If she wins on election night, then she’ll move, she says.
The revelation is a blow to the Liberals’ campaign to unseat Labor from its once-safe seat.
As former NSW premier and federal senator Kristina Keneally discovered in her disastrous 2022 campaign, voters care deeply about where candidates live.
After being parachuted into a long-time Labor seat far from where she lived, Keneally and the party were stunned by a huge swing against them and saw the electorate opt for independent candidate Dai Le instead.
Moussi now confronts a similar risk.
One Nation candidate Joh Bauch also owns property in Truganina, south of the electorate.
The Star Weekly reported in 2024 he lived in Deer Park, which is located outside the seat’s boundary. Bauch did not return multiple requests for comment or confirm if he lives in the seat of Sydenham.
While there are no formal rules around whether a candidate must live within the electorate when they run for office, it’s the kind of detail that matters to a lot of voters when choosing their representative.
“People in the western suburbs are very patriotic about living in the west,” said Maria Kerr, who is running as an independent in Sydenham and lives in Delahey. “I think it’s vitally important the candidate lives in the seat. They need to understand what the issues are on the ground.”
Moussi defended herself by pointing to her ownership of the popular Luxor Function Centre in Taylors Lakes.
“For the past 15 years, I’ve invested in Sydenham, built my business, employed local people and supported the community,” she told The Age.
“I believe representing a community is about more than where you sleep at night. It’s about the contribution you’ve made, the jobs you’ve created and how hard you’re prepared to fight for local people.”
One Nation did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
‘You sweating?’ In Shepparton, One Nation and the Nationals face a community grilling
“You sweating?” Cecelia Cooper, the co-moderator of a multicultural candidate forum for Shepparton voters, asks Nationals candidate Shane Sali.
“Go easy on me Cecelia,” Sali says. “Never,” Cooper responds.
They’re both smiling, and some of the voters at the Door Bells – Migrant Women’s Network forum on Tuesday night with them, laugh too.
It’s a prelude to one of the first questions that opens the event, and sets the tone for the night.
Dumped, demoted and nearly bankrupted: Why Pesutto keeps coming back for more
If John Pesutto’s relationship with the Liberal Party was a romance, his friends would have staged an intervention years ago.
Over the course of their courtship, which began more than 30 years ago, the former opposition leader has been rejected, dumped and left with a multi-million dollar legal bill.
But the 56-year-old remains devoted to the party, convinced that this time it might be different.
How many followers does it take to fill a pothole? This electorate just found out
A notorious pothole in Melbourne’s east has been filled overnight after becoming a social media star in the run-up to the state election.
Sitting at the intersection of Mahoneys and Canterbury roads in Forest Hill and straddling the electorates of Glen Waverley and Ringwood, the pothole had been there since at least December, according to Google Street View images. Liberal candidate for Ringwood Nick McGowan says it dated back to at least mid-2025.
One local resident, whose identity The Age has not been able to confirm, created an Instagram page drawing attention to the problem on November 1, with the bio “just a pothole living my best life”. Since then, the account has gathered more than 550 followers and posted daily updates on the gaping hole.
‘Orange is the new black’: In Sydenham, race is very much on the ballot
About three-quarters of the way through her campaign stop in Deer Park last Monday, after she had railed against state debt, working from home laws and trans women playing sport, Pauline Hanson took some questions from the floor.
Taking unvetted questions from voters is always a risk, even at an event for One Nation faithful. But for Hanson, authenticity and vulnerability isn’t optional, it’s the entire brand.
Locals asked the One Nation leader about the greatest risk to Australia’s way of life (Islam, socialism, Marxism, “in that order”), crime, and Christian churches being converted to mosques.
Ousted Labor MP Will Fowles set to run again in new electorate
Less than three months on from delivering an emotional valedictory speech to the Victorian parliament, following what can only be described as a messy two terms in the lower house, outgoing Ringwood MP Will Fowles is gearing up to have another crack.
The 48-year-old’s name quietly appeared on the Victorian Electoral Commission website on Monday, where he is listed as one of 11 people running in the Melbourne seat of Preston.
When asked about the move to Preston on Monday, Fowles said he saw the November 28 election more as an advocacy opportunity, and felt there was “no greater symbol of government inaction on housing than the decade-long failure to deliver new homes at Preston market”.
How One Nation’s win in Farrer sounded the alarm in Shepparton
It was just six months ago in the regional electorate of Farrer that voters resoundingly chose David Farley to be their next elected official in Canberra and, in the process, delivered One Nation its first lower house federal MP.
Triggered by the resignation of former federal opposition leader Sussan Ley, the byelection result in Farrer not only broke 77 years of Coalition safety in the seat, but also sent an ominous warning to regional electorates across the border preparing for this month’s state election and staring down challengers from the populist minor party.
Taking in Albury, Griffith and Deniliquin, the expansive rural electorate of Farrer covers 126,563 square kilometres in the south-west corner of NSW. At its most southern point is the Murray River, where on the other side of the water sits the state electorate of Shepparton – an area that cuts plenty of similarities with Farrer.
From Pauline Hanson to John Pesutto, the election is already packing a punch
Last week, we heard from voters in Sydenham, a once safe Labor seat that formed part of the “red wall” of outer-suburban Melbourne electorates.
After years leaning left, voters told investigative reporter Liam Mannix that they feel increasingly ignored by the government, with infrastructure, roads and hospital wait times proving to be major issues.
In Ringwood, another seat currently held by Labor, the attack from the Liberals and a number of minor party and independent candidates is well and truly under way.
Reporter Bridget McArthur last week took us inside a lively candidate’s forum where the Family First candidate for the seat was sidelined by a colleague who insisted he speak on her behalf. We also heard from locals that some of the main concerns going into this election are potholes, affordable housing and crime.
Welcome back to our Victorian hot seats
Welcome back to week 2 of our hot seats election coverage, where we’re taking a hyperlocal look at the burning issues in the electorates of Shepparton, Ringwood, Sydenham and Hawthorn in the lead-up to polling day on November 28.
In case you missed it, here’s everything we covered in week one.
‘I am hungry’: Pesutto tipped for plum cabinet position
Hawthorn MP John Pesutto could return to cabinet if the Liberals win the upcoming state election, with the prized Treasury portfolio potentially being set aside for him after the first post-election budget.
Four opposition sources, speaking to The Age on the condition of anonymity to discuss post-election plans, said the former party leader is being pushed internally for the role that would see him elevated to the frontbench within months if the Coalition win office.
“He is a talent and has a policy mind, and that is what we will need if we win,” one Liberal MP told The Age.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
