"Forces of darkness" jab adds spice to Labor's Gippsland South campaign

Cost of living pressures and the need for secure regional jobs will drive Labor candidate Amy Barry-Macaulay’s campaign for Gippsland South, she told supporters at her campaign launch in Korumburra recently.

The lawyer and mother of two outlined her priorities at the Austral Hotel on Saturday, November 7 at 1.30pm, before speaking with the Sentinel-Times about potholes, community safety and the push for a new Foster CFA station.

Ms Barry-Macaulay said household costs had dominated her conversations with local residents, while crime wasn't on their radar as much.

"Crime actually hasn’t come up, to be honest, in the conversations that I’ve been having," she said.

Those discussions, she said, had instead centred around cost of living and renewable energy.

She said maintaining healthcare and education services provided an essential safety net, pointing to Labor’s proposed 20 free dental clinics as one measure designed to ease some pressure.

But she emphasised that longer-term security also depended on employment.

"We need to create strong and resilient industries that can withstand economic shocks, and where people have real job security," she said.

Ms Barry-Macaulay identified offshore wind and the manufacturing needed to support its infrastructure as opportunities for regional employment.

When asked whether Labor would match Danny O’Brien’s pledge to fund a new three-bay CFA station in Foster, she expressed support for frontline workers and essential infrastructure, without making a matching funding commitment.

When pressed on the Foster facility specifically, she said she would raise community needs with colleagues if she were elected.

"I would absolutely be pushing for those essential services in our community, and I would be raising it with my colleagues."

On roads, Ms Barry-Macaulay backed Labor’s commitment to address 500,000 potholes and said she would work with councils and residents to identify priorities across the electorate, in terms of which roads most needed repairs.

She named no particular road, simply saying the highest-priority and highest-risk problems should receive attention first.

Although crime had not featured prominently in her conversations, she said community safety remained a priority and supported investment in policing.

When asked about crime, she also highlighted online safety, particularly for young people.

Earlier, in her speech, Ms Barry-Macaulay told supporters that having her youngest daughter last year had sharpened her determination to enter politics.

"For me, what came sharply into focus was that I wanted to actively fight for Labor values," she said.

"I was ready to go all in."

Raised and schooled in Wonthaggi, where she now lives, Ms Barry-Macaulay described her family connections stretching across Gippsland South.

Both parents grew up in Yarram, where her maternal grandparents ran a drapery, and her paternal grandparents farmed.

Her grandfather Ned served as a councillor and president of the Shire of Alberton.

Ms Barry-Macaulay began her career in corporate law before becoming a community and human rights lawyer assisting people experiencing homelessness and disadvantage.

She also acknowledged working as chief of staff to an Australian Greens senator about 15 years ago.

"Since then, I have been on quite a personal and political journey. What can I say? I am now older and much wiser."

Darren McCubbin was also in attendance, acting as the master of ceremonies.

Mr McCubbin is the Gippsland Climate Change Network CEO, while also being a former Wellington Shire councillor and former Labor candidate.

And he certainly supplied some sharp political commentary.

He described rival campaigners as the "forces of darkness", before conceding that most were pleasant company at polling booths.

He then joked that another party’s campaign slogan was to "Send Victoria backwards".

Bass Labor candidate Chris Buckingham struck a quieter tone, encouraging supporters to speak with friends and colleagues respectfully.

"It’s going to be one handshake, one smile, one gentle conversation about the future that we want as a community together," he said.

Though, even he acknowledged One Nation’s emergence in his own campaign, saying he had initially expected a two-party contest, possibly with an independent.

“The orange people were just the orange people over in the corner with the balloons doing funny stuff,” he said.

Ms Barry-Macaulay said she and volunteers would spend the remaining weeks visiting markets, letterboxing and doorknocking ahead of the November 28 election.