Candidates are getting ready in the marginal federal seat of Richmond for the 2025 live broadcast Richmond Meet the Candidates forum hosted by Echo Publications and Bay FM Community Radio.
Monday 28th April from 6-8pm in the Byron Theatre: mark your diaries, set your notifications, or start manifesting. Details on bookings to be advised.
Incumbent Labor candidate Justine Elliot has held the seat for more than two decades and appears as energetic as ever, determined to keep Richmond represented by Labor in a majority government.
But most analysis of voter sentiment suggests a minority Labor government is more likely, and The Greens have been working on Richmond being part of the change with intensified focus since welcoming Mandy Nolan as their candidate in the lead-up to the hotly contested 2022 election.
The party continues to introduce elected MP after MP from across the country to the seat for key policy announcements, including multiple visits from party leader Adam Bandt and visits from multiple MPs in any given week.
There have been fewer visits to the seat from Labor MPs by comparison and barely any from coalition MPs but it’s reasonable to say the pace and number set by The Greens appears difficult to follow.
Some might argue less is more, or better to save the best for last.
Australia’s Prime Minister has visited but it would be interesting to see how he would be received on a more targeted electorate campaign tour with the incumbent.
New One Nation candidate joins the race
Returning to this month’s Richmond Meet the Candidates Forum, both the incumbent and The Greens have confirmed participation, along with One Nation’s recently declared candidate, First Nations man Ian Mye.
An invitation has been sent to the Richmond Nationals campaign team for candidate Kimberly Hone, who takes on the contest again after running for the first time in 2022 and participating in the forum held that year.
By the time voting started in 2022, there were ten candidates running for Richmond but with the election just a few weeks away. Nominations close this week.
Your chance to ask a question in person
Members of the community are to be invited to put questions to the panel as part of the live broadcast and streamed event at bayfm.org; if your community group or cause has a question related to federal policy, please email [email protected] with subject: ‘Richmond Meet the Candidates’.
Bay FM Community Newsroom host Mia Armitage will emcee the evening with support from the Echo team, especially when keeping candidates to time.
You don’t have to ask a question to come along and hear how the candidates respond but be aware no heckling will be tolerated owing to the live broadcast.
Perhaps they’ll all say the same thing but hey, at least you’ll have a chance to put faces and voices to the names on your ballot form.
Oh, and in case you’re unsure: the election is on 3rd May.
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