Local Labor luminaries flocked to the launch of Helen Politis’s quest for a council seat in the Harmony Ward for Merri-bek in the upcoming October Victorian council elections.
Helen Politis said she was “propelled” to represent her community and, hopefully, the Merri-bek council.
“I am the daughter of Greek immigrants; I was born here, I grew up here, I raised my kids here, and now I care for my mother here,” said Politis when she took the podium.
Politis’s campaign launch was held on Sunday afternoon at the Lefkadian Brotherhood in Coburg, the club that represents her parents’ home region in Greece.
Among the ‘true believers’ were Peter Khalil, the Member for Wills; Sheena Watt, a Victorian politician and Yorta Yorta woman; Anthony Cianflone, state Labor member for Pascoe Vale, Coburg, and Brunswick West, as well as former Victorian ministers Kelvin Thomson, and Carlo Carli.
Peter Khalil, a member of Wills, launched the event, saying Politis was an “integral part of this community.” Khalil pointed to her lifelong involvement in the Coburg Little Athletics Centre and her membership in the Coburg Harriers Athletics Club, stressing her commitment to sports facilities.
“The amount of voluntary work Helen does for sporting clubs, local organisations, and charitable groups makes her an extraordinary person who loves taking action and getting stuff done, “said Khalil.
He lauded her focus on sporting clubs, community organisations, and “roads that suffer neglect, and that council was supposed to get done.”
Anthony Cianflone also said that Merri-bek councillors have “not all been working in the best interests of communities.”
He swiped at the Greens, saying, “these councillors are very good at always seeking to claim the moral high ground while at the same time always climbing the mountain of hypocrisy on certain issues.”
“They [Greens] claim to be in favour of getting rid of land banking and attack those who supposedly land bank but the fact they are the biggest land bankers in the city.”
He accused them of acquiring land and doing nothing “in favour of housing”.
“This Greens Council is actively considering doubling council rates on properties of family businesses and renters.”
Cianflone accused the Greens of “not listening to communities and bringing communities along when it comes to road safety.” He emphasised the “sorry” state of many roads and attacked their lack of support for sporting clubs, which provide health and “well-being for many ethnic communities.”
Sheena Watt then spoke of Helen Politis’s “love of community”, her skills, and her support for First Nations and multicultural communities.
Helen Politis took to the stag and emphasised she was the “daughter of Greek immigrants” and said, “I was born here, I grew up here, I raised my kids here, and now I care for my mother here.”
“My mother, a cancer survivor, has joined us today. My father has passed away.
“There were once factories here, and my dad worked in them. I grew up when there were plenty of jobs, the economy was working well for all, and multiculturalism was forming into what it is today.”
Politis said that when she talks to her community, people tell her that “they are not happy with the fundamentals.”
“People I talk to are unhappy that the roads haven’t been fixed and are full of potholes. Where 85-year-old Maria walks out of her house and trips and, as a result, ends up in the hospital and is facing possibly never going home but living out the rest of her years in age care.
She talked of the “widower” she met raising three children and that “his single biggest expense is his council rates”.
“He wouldn’t mind paying; except he sees services diminishing.
Politis said “what got me up here was when the council put forward a proposal to rip up synthetic sporting turfs, and Carlo Carli successfully opposed it.”
The Greens-led campaign would have seen synthetic grounds used by a myriad of ethnic-based soccer clubs removed without replacement.
“How absurd, what a waste of ratepayers money and completely ridiculous.”
She called other initiatives of this Green-dominated council “misguided.”
Politis pointed out that “council rates are now hard for normal ratepayers to pay.”
“We, you know, people with common sense know that these proposals are unworkable, and we know that these ideas hurt ordinary people.”
She said there was “disrepair” across the council, and the “rubbish”, and “pigeon poo pile up” at a critical meeting place in the centre of Coburg.
“That is a space where people come together. It is now dirty, full of rubbish, and full of pigeons, and it needs to be cleaned up,” said Politis.
She said small businesses “are suffering”, and there is a “distinct lack of services for residents, many of them post-war immigrants like her family. Politis wants to “do things that serve people.”
Talking to Neos Kosmos after her stump speech, Politis said she is keen to see improved sporting grounds, aged care, and childcare services.
“Let’s get down to basics. I want to ensure that young and old players don’t fall and sprain their ankles and that their whole team has access to the grounds.
“I’d like to see rubbish picked up from the street so that it doesn’t deter people from coming and shopping in the area. These are very basic. These are fundamentals.”
Labor Councillor Lambros Tapinos, a supporter of Politis, told Neos Kosmos that the Greens have dominated the council and “haven’t been doing a good job on major issues that matter.”
“We need childcare, maternal child health services, and services for seniors – services for seniors and young families have been decreasing.”
“The focus needs to come back on services and infrastructure, our libraries, our halls and community centres,” Tapinos told Neos Kosmos.
“I’ve known Helen politics for years, and she is all about community, and she’s from the community”, he added.
He told Neos Kosmos how the Greens rejected naming Fletcher Jones Park ‘Fabrika’ in honour of the thousands of Greek and Italian immigrants who settled and worked in Merri-bek since the end of World War II.
He called it “an affront to the Greek and Italian migrants” who still make up the majority of non-Anglo-Irish Australians in Merri-bek and especially Harmony Ward, for which Politis is running. In Harmony Ward, where Politis is running, 17 per cent of the residents are Italian, and seven per cent are of Greek heritage.
“I support Helen [Politis] because she gets community and is from the community.
