Thanks

My sincere thanks to everyone who voted for me and to the people who gave up their valuable time to help me with the election. Despite the disappointing result, it was still very much worth the effort. The experience has taught me a lot of things about campaigning that I may use in future - make your campaign longer than two weeks is one of them. Unfortunately, other important demands on my time did not allow a longer lead-up to the election.

I offer my qualified congratulations to the Bracks Government on its re-election, but fear that many of the reasons that prompted me and other independents to run may still prevail in four years' time. Unless this Government moves beyond consultation to genuine community participation and engagement, it will continue to trade on the pathetic argument that it is merely better than the Liberals. I applaud its stance on industrial relations, but reject its policies on planning, public-private partnerships and gaming, to name but a few contentious matters.

Finally, I reject the corruption of idealism with the kind of debased political pragmatism we have seen in the Northcote campaign. I refer in particular to the misleading electoral material suggesting a preference deal between the Liberals and the Greens. In this, Labor has read from the Tampa book of political strategy, and should be ashamed for having done so.

For these reasons, I cannot congratulate Fiona Richardson as the beneficiary of such tactics - to do so would be to congratulate an interchangeable and generic cog in the Labor Party machine. I issue the challenge to her to prove to Northcote electors that she is more than this. Her actions will not escape scrutiny.

How to vote Independent in Northcote

If you have received one of my flyers in your letterbox, my preferences for how-to-vote are shown on one side. If you have decided to vote for me, thanks! Please take the flyer with you to your voting centre, as I do not have the resources to give out how-to-vote-cards at every centre, though I will be around.

For those who have not come to this site from the flyer, I give my preferences here in ballot order. Please remember to number all the squares in the ballot for the Lower House, or your vote won't count. If you think I deserve your vote, don't miss writing a '1' in the box next to my name at the bottom of the ballot.

WILLIS, Daniel - The Family First candidate, please preference Willis last by writing a '5' in the box next to his name on the Lower House ballot. Willis represents a right-wing conservative religious agenda, and has no links with local communities. While I am not myself religious, I believe churches have a contribution to make in debates like social justice. However, Willis would not represent the diversity of reasonable views held within the electorate, instead supporting the extreme agenda of his party.

BHATHAL, Alex - The Greens candidate, please preference Bhathal second by writing a '2' in the box next to her name on the Lower House ballot. You may have seen the recent electoral material distributed by Labor suggesting a preference deal between the Greens and the Liberals. I put these allegations to the Greens before deciding to preference them second and am satisfied the allegations are false. Green preferences in Northcote clearly preference Labor over the Liberals, and I am convinced there is no 'deal' to favour the Liberals in other seats. Despite some differences on Melbourne 2030, the Greens have decent policies, and I am prepared to preference them second to send a message to Bracks as a disaffected life-long supporter (but never a member) of his Party who is sick of community voices being ignored.

RICHARDSON, Fiona - The Labor candidate, please preference Richardson third by writing a '3' in the box next to her name on the Lower House ballot. Richardson was imposed on the electorate when Mary Delahunty, the sitting member and pre-selected candidate, resigned in the lead-up to the poll. Richardson lives in Regent, outside the electorate, and has few links to local communities apart from her claimed use of our shops, roads and doctors. Nevertheless, she has misleadingly claimed to be a 'local' in electoral material distributed to local communities.

If elected, she would carry forward objectionable Government policies such as the Melbourne 2030 pro-development agenda (for further discussion, please see my own policies). Residents could also expect little in the way of advocacy from a Labor MP unwilling to speak out against the policies of her re-elected Government.

Richardson is aligned with the Labor Right, and is married to State Labor heavy-weight, Stephen Newnham, who authorised misleading election material such as Peter Garrett's letter about a preference 'deal' between the Greens and the Liberals (see above, and my media release on the topic). Please send them a message that they can no longer take local residents for granted.

WATT, Graham - The Liberal candidate, please preference Watt fourth by writing a '4' in the box next to his name on the Lower House ballot. I still remember the Kennett years, and hope you do too. Watt represents everything we see going wrong with Government at the Federal level, and a vote for the Liberals would be a vote for John Howard's harsh industrial relations laws, which I utterly reject. I was at the ACTU's national days of protest and will be at the MCG on 30 November, but you won't find Watt in the crowd. Please ensure your vote is for fairness in the workplace.

LEWIN-HILL, Darren - I am the only Independent candidate running for Northcote, and ask that you preference me first by writing a '1' in the box next to my name on the Lower House ballot. I ask for your vote as a genuine local resident who has fought for the community on planning issues, and as someone who would demand a local say on all issues affecting local residents in Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Fairfield and Alphington. I oppose the Howard industrial relations laws, am sympathetic to Labor values, but would hold the Government to account in the many areas where it has fallen down - including public-private partnerships, service delivery and planning. I am also standing on local issues such as safer speed limits, increased childcare, protection of the environment, and cuts to the gaming machines that take tens of millions of dollars from the community. I urge you to read these pages, paying close attention to my policies.

Northcote smear flyer, Garrett letter, show Labor fears alternative vote

Here's a media release I issued this morning:

The Labor Party has issued a grubby flyer, and a letter from Federal MP and former Oils frontman, Peter Garrett, in an attempt to suppress the Northcote vote for the Greens and, indirectly, independent candidate, Darren Lewin-Hill. The flyer and letter suggest a preference deal between the Greens and the Liberals. However, while the Greens and Lewin-Hill have preferenced each other second, they have both preferenced the Labor Party above the Liberals and Family First on how-to-vote cards registered with the Victorian Electoral Commission.

'I don't want people who are considering voting for a local independent to think that my preferences to the Greens might ultimately support the Liberals, when that is absolutely not the case,' Mr Lewin-Hill said today, noting that he was doing his utmost to win as a long-shot outsider in the contest.

Read the full media release

Labor set to crowd the Northcote skies

Here's a media release that went out this morning to all major media:

Some of the worst impacts of Melbourne 2030 are set to play out post-election for residents of Northcote, said Darren Lewin-Hill, an independent Lower House candidate, today. He said that, if elected, Labor's Fiona Richardson would carry forward the State Government's disastrous planning blueprint for crowding the skies of Northcote and other inner suburbs.

Residents adjoining Northcote railway station and large tracts of factory land on Arthurton Road ear-marked for rezoning are facing development of up to eight storeys. In an area of densely packed one and two-storey homes, the proposed rezoning will allow development that threatens overshadowing and a marked worsening of the already stressed traffic and parking situation. It will also inevitably heighten the danger from cars faced by children from the nearby Helen Street (Northcote) Primary School.

Read the full media release

Where I stand

If you would like to learn more about my views on key policy areas, there is now a page called 'Where I stand' that goes into a bit more detail about my positions on such matters as industrial relations, PPPs, delivery of services, development, traffic, childcare, public housing, social justice, and the environment. I invite you to read these views and to test them by sending me any questions you might have, including with regard to specific issues. If I am elected, this is what you can expect.

Above all, however, you can expect an available MP who will reply to your correspondence, attend public meetings, and be available to constituents. I will listen to local people and carry their voice to Parliament.

So what can independents offer?

The ABC reports that there are 63 independents contesting the 2006 Victorian State election, so just what can independents achieve if they do get elected? In my case, I'm hoping to bridge the gap between an arrogant Government and its better self. That means supporting a re-elected Bracks Government on issues such as their fight against John Howard's IR laws, but holding them to account where they drift too close to the Liberals and Family First. The exact effect of that aim will depend on how the numbers fall out both in the Lower and Upper House.

If the election proves close – and governments are formed in the Lower House – the prospect suddenly looms of independents figuring in the balance of power. This happened in 1999, when Russell Savage, Craig Ingram and Susan Davies reached agreement with Steve Bracks to form Government based on the trio's Independents' Charter.

While I would like to hear what these independents ultimately made of their agreement and its outcomes, such a prospect offers hope of legislative decisions that are contested, not decided by the overwhelming majority we see in the Lower House today.

But even if the Lower House numbers are still one-sided after 25 November, the electoral reforms in the Upper House won by Savage, Ingram and Davies mean that there is a real chance that, together with independents, a minor party such as the Greens will have a real say in the final form of legislation. Even if Lower House independents lack the numbers to force change, their profile and ability to achieve media focus on the issues may well influence their Upper House colleagues, or at least inform their debate.

From a local perspective, independents can shine a light both on the workings of Parliament and local Councils. This has particular relevance where, as in Northcote, Labor dominates the Council and holds the local seat in State Parliament.

Finally, just like Savage, Ingram and Davies in 1999, independent MPs have the ability to align, not on party lines, but in the interest of local communities and of Victoria as a whole. Openness and engagement of communities are keys to this idea, together with a commitment to make decisions on principle rather than engage in pragmatic deals. I encourage you to read the Independents' Charter 1999 – it still has urgent relevance today.

And now a word from Giorgia!

It appears my last post has come to the attention of its subject, Giorgia Moar. Giorgia has penned the following reply to my email, though she's welcome to leave a comment for everyone if she so desires. Anyway, here it is. She has renamed me 'David' – if only she could rename the electoral district of Preston to Northcote, her problems would be solved. The electorate would just be very, very big.

David,

How kind of you to allow me the write a letter to my local paper!

It is laughable to suggest that I am part of the ALP machine. I have taken an interest in the election (including writing to my local paper) as I want to ensure that my community is well represented.

I have given my support to the campaign of Fiona Richardson because I think Fiona would make a good Member for Northcote.

Sorry to disappoint you but it is that simple. No hidden agenda.

[No hidden agenda, just very small print – Ed.]

Good Luck with your projects.

Regards

Giorgia