Candidates address voters at public forum

BENDIGO voters had the chance to question their Federal election candidates on Monday, in a public forum hosted by three community groups.

Bendigo Sustainability Group, Bike Bendigo and Commoners Co-op organised the forum at the Bendigo Club, with over 100 people in attendance and watching online.

Labor incumbent Lisa Chesters was joined by election hopefuls Dr Cate Sinclair of the Greens, Matt Bansemer from the Liberal Democrats, Darin Schade from the Liberal Party, Ben Mihail from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, and Elijah Suares from the United Australia Party.

Independent candidate James Laurie was absent from the panel due to an issue with invitations, however was in attendance and given a chance to address the crowd at the end of the forum.

BSG president Colin Lambie said the group hosts similar events for all local, State and Federal elections.

“We do it to give the public, the voters, an opportunity to know what the candidates stand for,” he said.

“Obviously we have quite a few interests and we invite other groups to submit questions. We cover quite a range from climate change and renewable energy to social issues like poverty, housing, health, education, corporate taxation.”

Prior to the forum, the candidates were asked to answer over 20 questions from a survey created by the hosting groups, with a big focus on the environment, transport, and community wellbeing.

BSG’s ranking scorecard showed all green ticks for Ms Chesters’ and Dr Sinclair’s responses, Mr Schade and Mr Suares received a mix score, and Mr Bansemer received a generally negative score.

Mr Mihail and Mr Laurie did not complete the survey.

“I’m sure you could come up with questions where the Green candidate would come out with a few crosses,” Mr Lambie said.

“I’ve always wondered why there aren’t particular business groups that host forums and put more of a focus on the economy and business, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Early voting is open across the Bendigo electorate, with polling booths open in Mitchell Street and at the Kangaroo Flat Gateway Function Centre for people with a valid reason for not being able to vote on Saturday, 21 May.