There are nine candidates running for the lower house in Shepparton at Saturday’s Victorian election.
Here is the platform each candidate is running on, listed in the order they will appear on the ballot on Saturday.
The Nationals — Kim O’Keeffe: Former Shepparton mayor Kim O’Keeffe is standing with the Nationals for the election. She is running on an identical policy platform to Liberal candidate Cheryl Hammer, with all costings coming out of Coalition headquarters.
The Coalition has pledged $260 million for stage one of the Shepparton bypass and money for the Shepparton Sports Stadium upgrade. It has also pledged to lower public transport costs and release more land for development across the state.
The Coalition has also pledged to set up a second high school in Greater Shepparton following consultation with the community.
Australian Greens — Ian Christoe: Ian Christoe is a farmer from Undera who has lived in the region his whole life, and speaks about his belief we should leave the land in a better state than we found it.
The Victorian Greens want more drastic action on climate change, net zero emissions as soon as possible and the phasing out of fossil fuels.
They want to raise taxes on gas and coal mining, as well as build 200,000 affordable and public housing homes over the next 20 years, as well as capping rent increases and investing $1.3 billion in health.
Animal Justice Party — Katherine Taylor: Katherine Taylor hasn’t made appearances across Shepparton during the campaign trail at events and candidates’ forums and the party does not have Shepparton-specific policies.
The Animal Justice Party’s policies are all around animal welfare, but the party has developed positions on which it will judge all other issues — with those core values being kindness, equality, rationality and non-violence.
The party wants to introduce universal health care for animals, called Veticare, to public veterinary clinics across the state, as well as ending duck shooting and greyhound and jumps racing.
Labour DLP — Sueie McGrath: Sueie McGrath, which isn’t a typo according to the Victorian Electoral Commission, also hasn’t been seen across the region and does not have any Shepparton-specific policies.
Labour DLP, not to be confused with the Labor Party, wants to reject the climate crisis, help families find homes to both buy and rent and end all renewable energy subsidies.
There are no policies from the party related to Shepparton directly, but the party’s website says it wants to increase the numbers of doctors and nurses, and slash registration fees for non-electric cars.
The party also wants to end Acknowledgement of Country readings and “outlaw the teaching of race and gender in schools”.
Freedom Party of Victoria — Diane Teasdale: Diane Teasdale has run for Federal and Victorian parliament and council many times over the past 25 years.
She is running on a platform of ending the few remaining vaccine mandates across the state and on ending and outlawing lockdowns, as well as ensuring no more water is lost from the region and that local councils have more power.
Australian Labor Party — Victorian Branch — Liam Cowan: Liam Cowan grew up in Tatura before moving to Melbourne to study.
Regionally, Labor has committed to new women’s health facilities in Shepparton as well as a new PET scanner at GV Health.
Premier Daniel Andrews’ website, not the Labor website, lists the party’s policies, with building hospitals, schools, roads and making kindergarten and TAFE free as priorities, while big infrastructure projects in Melbourne such as Suburban Rail Loop and Metro Tunnel are also on the cards.
Liberal Party — Cheryl Hammer: Businesswoman and community leader Cheryl Hammer is running for the second time for the seat of Shepparton after falling short in 2018. She’s running a similar policy platform to Nationals candidate Kim O’Keeffe, with policies and pledges all identical due to costings coming from head office.
The Coalition has pledged $260 million for stage one of the Shepparton bypass and money for the Shepparton Sports Stadium upgrade. It has also pledged to lower public transport costs and release more land for development across the state.
The Coalition has also pledged to set up a second high school in Greater Shepparton following consultation with the community.
Independent — Suzanna Sheed: The incumbent is hoping for her third term as the member for Shepparton, and has campaigned on the back of achieving funding for the Greater Shepparton Secondary College, GV Health and VLocity trains.
She has said she will fight for bypass funding and for the stadium upgrade, while making adjustments to Parliament’s rules, which currently don’t allow the Opposition or independents to move motions or bills on the floor, is also top of her agenda.
Family First Victoria — Alison White: Alison White has also not been seen in Shepparton at campaign events or candidates’ forums.
Her party is a far-right party which is focused on gender issues, and wants to remove the use of puberty blockers and gender affirmation surgery and ban schools from teaching about gender issues, as well as advocating to ban abortions.
Family First claims to be the only party that can protect voters from political correctness, “anti-family” agendas and promises to be a “bold and uncompromising voice for family and faith”.