Every candidate vying for a vote in the marginal seat of Ripon was advertised as speaking at a local candidates forum on Sunday October 4. The state seat is widely tipped as a three-horse race between Labor, One Nation and the Liberals, yet only one of those three, the Liberal candidate, made it to the stage.

The forum was organised by the Kingston and District Power Alliance, which has campaigned since 2020 against the Western Renewables Link (WRL), a planned high-voltage power line to carry electricity from new wind and solar farms in western Victoria to Melbourne. 

The case against the WRL dominated the afternoon, and for landholders along the route the stakes are high. Across the wider electorate, though, polling research and focus groups suggests it isn't the issue deciding most votes:

THE SETTING

Hosted at the Newlyn Football Netball Club, about 10 attendees arrived in a procession of tractors, many carrying protest signs against Labor, others holding AI-generated posters caricaturing former Labor Premier Jacinta Allan and incumbent Labor MP Martha Haylett, along with Liberal leader Jess Wilson and Liberal upper house MP Bev McArthur.  

The venue itself is surrounded by rolling hills and a patchwork quilt of crops and livestock paddocks, with the slogan “P*ss off AusNet” mown into a hill a few roads away. AusNet is the company building the power line. Almost 200 locals turned up, many greeting each other by name at the front doors. 

THE PLAYERS

The original line-up of candidates from the Legislative Assembly (lower house) included: 

At the beginning of the forum, moderator Marius Cummings announced that Haylett would not be attending, and the room booed loudly.  Haylett's office later told the Brolga she had a family emergency.

Shortly after, it was also announced Buxton was unable to attend due to business reasons, which elicited no reaction from the audience. Stuart Robinson, a candidate running for Wendouree for One Nation, represented Buxton on the panel. 

Three candidates for the Legislative Council (upper house) also attended, including: 

THE FORUM

The WRL took up most of the afternoon, including whether it would be cancelled, its environmental impact, and what happens when it is decommissioned. 

Answers that moved toward nuance were heckled, including the Coalition’s use of the phrase “review of the project”. 

There were multiple questions where McArthur set the tone by attempting to steal the microphone from the moderator, on one occasion yelling to the crowd “drill, baby, drill” while the Greens candidates were on the topic of moving away from coal and gas. 

Read drew on her agricultural background and local relationships in her answers, responding to one attendee by name: “Marcy, we’ve spent hours over the phone talking about this,” before launching into an attack on Labor and a nod to issues with the Planning Amendment Act. It was another question on the WRL.

Jo Armstrong kept her answers technical, at odds with the heated language from her Coalition partners and the One Nation candidate. Asked whether she would cancel the WRL, she said she “personally” would advocate for this, but cancelling the project isn’t the current Coalition policy. 

On the Emergency Services Levy, Chris Burson said he would support it, if it funded emergency services effectively, and they all had “sick trucks”, “but they don’t”. 

Both Greens candidates – Sarah Mansfield and Tim Drylie – included an Acknowledgement of Country in their speeches, and both were heckled and booed. Mansfield and Drylie drew the strongest negative responses of the afternoon. They told the crowd that despite the "diversity of opinion” they would be honest with voters about where they stood. After the forum, Mansfield told the Brolga that many people in the audience had said they respected the Greens for showing up. 

Other issues raised included:

THE PUBLIC

The crowd at the forum was animated. Questions included ones sent in before the event and vetted by the organisers, and questions from the audience. 

The first question that had been sent in was to the point: “I’m over it. I’ll vote for any party that will cancel WRL. What do you say to voters who have reached the point where cancelling WRL is the single issue that will determine their vote. Do you support cancelling the project?” 

Many other questions followed this structure - anger, and firm calls for WRL cancellation. 

THE VOTE

Ripon has historically flipped between the Liberal and Labor parties. In 2022, Labor’s Martha Haylett won with 38.6 percent of first preference votes. The Liberal’s Louise Staley, the sitting member, came in second with 36.2 percent, and the Greens finished with 6 percent. After preferences, Labor won 52.99 percent. 

This time, One Nation and the Nationals are in the mix. There is no public seat-level polling for Ripon. Statewide, A DemosAU poll taken 10-20 September puts the Coalition at 30 percent of the primary vote, Labor on 25 percent, One Nation on 20 percent, and the Greens on 14 percent. The Poll Bludger's seat projection lists Ripon among the seats One Nation could win.

THE 1-ON-1s

The Brolga approached Liberal candidate Megan Read for an interview, but was told independent media outlets are “not pre-approved” and candidates were not allowed to speak to organisations without approval. 

Sarah Mansfield from the Greens said it was “important to meet people where they’re at”, and that a lot of voters are accessing information through “different channels, and we can’t just assume people are getting their information through traditional sources”. 

The Brolga spoke with Chris Burson from One Nation, and he said he attended a similar event four years ago and wasn't allowed on stage, and that this year’s forum had been an “interesting development”. 

At the event’s conclusion, carrot cake and chocolate slices were served.