Victorian local elections with eyes on Melbourne

In the quest to reach Melbourne’s city hall, players will have to land on a number of key issues. Including revitalizing the city revamping transport and helping with cost of living. 11 players have put their names forward to be lord mayor including some new, some returning and some well-known. Acting lord mayor Nick Reece has held the fort since Sally Capp's exit in march. “I'm running again because I love Melbourne so much” The mad Carlton supporter is going head to head with one of his heroes. Former Carlton premiership player and AFL hall of famer Anthony Koutoufides. “I’m confident in sport but this is out of my comfort zone.” Not so for Arron wood, the former acting lord mayor lost in 2020 - but he's back - and firing shots. “I think we need to be a little bit skeptical about what's been promised with this election.” So is independent councilor Jamal hakim - who's promising transparency “Democracy is at stake right now, trust in government is so low” “For a lot of Victorians local government is local, and they like it to be very much community.” While that's the case in Victoria, party politics are more influential in local elections in other states. But it's still important to some ratepayers, almost one in five federal politicians were first elected to councils. On the major party tickets, there's the greens candidate and full-time midwife, Roxanne Ingleton. “The people who live here are my passion, and I serve them every day when I go to work, helping them bring their babies into the world” Management consultant and liberal candidate Mariam Riza "We have a great city. We could potentially lose it if we don't take control." While labor's candidate Phil Reed was the mayor of Springvale in 1993. There's also Gary morgan, who's hoping 7th time's a charm - having run in every race since 2004. "Melbourne’s in a mess" Greg Bisinella from the newly formed voices for Melbourne. Anthony van de crats from rip up the bike lanes team and Eylem Kim from the animal justice party are also up for the challenge. In the 2020 poll - candidates campaigned through covid. This time - the election process is back to normal. But candidates say Melbourne hasn't yet recovered - and they want to reclaim the tag of most liveable city. Anthony Koutoufides wants to attract more people into the CBD with free coffees. Arron wood wants to boost visitation to the queen Victoria market "Bringing city Diwali, Eid and Hannukah into the, making them bigger celebrations" While Nick Reece plans to build 28 new parks across city and crack down on vandalism and graffiti. Transport in and out of the city is a big focus. Extending the free tram zone is on the cards for Nick Reece and Arron wood among others. Gary Morgan wants to extend the boundaries of the city of Melbourne to include suburbs like Fitzroy and St Kilda. "Melbourne is a very funny design" Mariam riza, and Anthony Koutoufides want to remove bike lanes in the city in fact it's the main policy the rip up bike lanes party. But keeping them is important for Roxane Ingleton “we love our beautiful new separated bike lanes that we have in the city" hire e-scooters has been a big issue in the lead up to the election. After the council voted to ban hire scooters from the CBD, some candidates want them back. "We would like to investigate the return of the e-scooter contracts.” “In high pedestrian zones, geofence the scooters from not being there.” “there's a place for them in the city.” And then there's one of the key issues on ratepayers' minds - cost of living. With cheaper public transport and rate freezes on the cards. Some candidates are also planning to convert office spaces into flats, create more crisis accommodation and deliver cashback on businesses bringing employers into offices. But promising is one thing delivering is another with support from the state government and other councilors needed to lift these policies off the ground. “The thing about local government is but voters generally don't really hang on to the promises” You don't need to own a property in the city of Melbourne to vote for the lord mayor, renters and international students also get a vote. And almost half the votes come from business owners the election will be declared in November to decide who wins the race to the lord mayor's office.