Brunswick candidates eye Greek vote

The inner Melbourne seat of Brunswick has always housed a large number of Greek Australians, and in the upcoming state election, the traditional Labor seat is under tight competition from the Greens.

The ALP candidate, Jane Garrett, signed a petition to get Modern Greek included in the National Curriculum, saying the issue was important to many Greek Australians she'd met while campaigning.

"If you seek to represent this area, you need to do so celebrating the Greek community," she told Neos Kosmos, adding that, along with Italian and Arabic Australians, Greek Australians are one of the three major multicultural groups in the electorate.

"My strong connections with Brunswick and its extensive Greek community continually remind me of the important contribution the Greeks have made to Australia's history and their essential role in our country's future," she said.

Ms Garrett, who said her family has lived in the area for six generations, said maintaining Greek language was essential to maintaining Greek culture in the area.

"It is through the Greek community's efforts, especially over the past 60 years, that Brunswick has become known as one of the pillars of Greek language education."

But Greens candidate Cindy Dawes says she's met plenty of Greek Australians while campaigning, and won't be presenting any policies or announcements specifically for Brunswick's large Hellenic community.

"I think the concerns of the Greek community are universal," she said, noting health care, aged care and water as among the key concerns of voters she's met.

"Particularly, older Greek women are quite concerned about water," she said.

"I think it's because they're gardeners and they've been frugal all their lives."

She said she's also committed to getting Modern Greek onto the national curriculum, and encouraging language learning in government schools.

"I think our policies around aged care and the work we've done on seeking concession rates for aged pensioners will speak to the Greek community," she said.

She said the seat was going to be a very tight competition, adding that it was difficult to know what impact the retirement of the ALP's sitting member Carlo Carli would have in the seat's multicultural community.

"People have said, 'now Carlo's not running, I feel liberated to vote Greens,' but it's hard to know," she said.

"Do people vote for a person or a party?"

She said the Greens have doorknockers who speak Greek.