00:03Lane work by car light, not by flood light. Training for kids at Pakenham footy club is
00:08run in the dark. The lights no longer work.
00:11Unfortunately our lights got condemned because we've had three copper thefts this season.
00:16Illuminated grounds are at a premium, which the senior club gets on a Tuesday night. But
00:21the spotlight is on other issues.
00:23Youth crime has been a big issue for a long time so I think it probably would shape how
00:27people vote.
00:27Pakenham, in Melbourne's outer southeast, is one of Victoria's most marginal seats.
00:33Labor won it by just 307 votes in 2022.
00:36Youth crime is pretty big. I think it goes all the way around here.
00:41We're conscious of it. We're always educating our players around, you know, safety.
00:48As well as coaching the seniors, Justin Stanton has been in the ranks of Victoria Police for
00:52decades. He says there's a different mood in the community.
00:55A lot of people seem to be entertaining alternatives. They want to change. They're not satisfied
01:00with the cost of living, the roads that we've seen in recent times that are in poor condition.
01:04I think they're very much a swinging voter and they'll be guided by, you know, what happens over the next
01:09hundred
01:09days. Once surrounded by green fields, Pakenham has been swallowed up by Melbourne's sprawl.
01:14Like other outer suburban communities, residents are feeling the pinch.
01:18It's a high growth area. So there's always more need for infrastructure for sporting and the like.
01:24If we can have more facilities for the youth of the area and keep them busy and involved in sport,
01:29I think that's great.
01:30A town centre for officer was promised more than a decade ago and 12 hectares of state-owned land
01:36remain cow paddocks. Mayor Brett Owen, who ran as an independent candidate in 2022,
01:40wants the government to act. Open up for retail, commercial and housing. Also provide a new
01:47arterial road from the Princess Highway to the Princess Freeway and finally, you know, invest in the town centre.
01:55Also on the wish list are improved roads for the area and more community facilities.
02:00Labor's Emma Vullen won Pakenham four years ago. She's retiring at the election following a diagnosis
02:05of motor neuron disease. Alessandra Sullivan is running for Labor. Radmila Dyson was only just
02:11picked as the Liberals candidate, while One Nation's newly anointed state leader, Warren Pickering,
02:16is Pauline Hanson's pick. A vital piece in a complex electoral puzzle.
Comments