News / Federal Election

Ballot draw gives Khalil an advantage

Mark Phillips

PETER Khalil has gained an early edge in his fight to keep Wills a Labor seat, drawing a position on ballot papers four above Greens’ challenger Samantha Ratnam.

Eight candidates have nominated for Wills, with Khalil drawing second position on Friday and Ratnam sixth.

Socialist Alliance candidate and Merri-bek councillor Sue Bolton will appear in first position on ballot papers, followed by Khalil and Liberal Jeff Kidney.

Margee Glover from Legalise Cannabis Australia is fourth, Fusion Party’s Owen Miller fifth and Ratnam is sixth.

The bottom two places are taken by Rachel Versteegen from the Libertarian Party and Bruce Stevens from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

Khalil is defending a 4.6% margin as he seeks a third term as Member for Wills and fights to prevent the seat falling into the hands of the Greens for the first time in its history.

In 2022, he won by 8.6% but a redistribution has made the seat marginal.

Early voting will begin on April 22.

Funding to restore Gillon Oval grandstand

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles – an avid Geelong supporter – visited Brunswick on Saturday to join Khalil in announcing more than $3.3 million in funding for Gillon Oval.

Most of the $3.325 million election commitment will go towards the renovation of the historic A.R. Glenn Stand, which has fallen in to disrepair over the years.

Funding will also be provided to upgrade ground lighting to support night matches at the oval.

Gillon Oval is home to the Brunswick football and cricket clubs, while Brunswick Netball Club also trains at nearby Raeburn Reserve and shares facilities at Gillon Oval.

“This election commitment will make Gillon Oval fit-for-purpose not just for those playing sports, but for spectators and other community members using the grounds for generations to come,” Khalil said.

Meanwhile, Brunswick’s The Retreat hotel played host to a Greens’ policy announcement on Friday of tax relief for live performance venues.

The party’s Arts spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young joined Ratnam in announcing the live performance tax offsets program which would see venues like The Retreat gain access to a 10% tax offset to reduce their upfront costs.

“Wills is home to so many artists and venues like The Retreat,” Ratnam said.

“But we know so many live music venues are struggling to stay open, threatening the livelihoods of performers. Our community would lose so much heart and soul without live music.”

Advance muscles into Wills

Conservative lobby group Advance is letter boxing Wills residences with election materials attacking the Greens.

The flyers have begun turning up in letter boxes in recent days bearing a message “Can’t Vote Greens, Not This Time”.

Advance – best known for funding the No campaign during the Voice referendum in 2023 – has boasted of raising almost $10 million to target left of centre parties, with three-quarters of that money to be used to attack the Greens.

It is also bankrolling other third party organisations to produce anti-Greens materials.

The Australian Christian Lobby has also letterboxed Wills residences with pamphlets attacking the Greens support for gender affirming healthcare, despite no specific reference to any such policy in the party’s 2025 election platform.

The ACL pamphlets were roundly criticised on social media platforms.

Where’s Jeff?

Liberal candidate Jeff Kidney has maintained his radio silence despite several attempts by Brunswick Voice to contact him. He has also been notably absent from election forums since the campaign began.

There is a good reason for his low profile: due to some excellent sleuth work by The Age, we now know that Kidney calls home a suburb roughly 40 kilometres from Brunswick.

It would take Kidney 45 minutes to drive from Boronia to Brunswick, or almost 90 minutes by public transport. The cultural differences between the two suburbs are even wider.

The Age has also reported that last year Kidney pleaded guilty to obtaining financial advantage by deception.

According to the newspaper, Kidney pleaded guilty in March 2024 to the charge and was ordered to pay $10,640 in compensation to the Victorian Work Cover authority for breaches which took place between May and October 2019.

No conviction was recorded so he is still eligible to run for political office.

Upcoming opportunities to meet the candidates

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Amnesty International are hosting a Wills candidates forum on Monday night in Coburg.

Khalil, Ratnam, Bolton and Miller have all accepted an invitation to attend the forum, which will be moderated by Jana Favero, Deputy CEO and Head of Systemic Change at ASRC.

It is being billed as a chance for candidates to state their positions on the ASRC’s key policy priorities for this election: protection, freedom, safety and humanity for refugees and people seeking asylum.

The event will begin at 6pm at Schoolhouse Studios, 28 Victoria Street, Coburg, and will also be livestreamed.

On Tuesday, Free Palestine Melbourne and Muslim Votes Matter have organised a forum, also at Schoolhouse Studios, on ‘Wills and the Question of Palestine’.

Khalil, Ratnam, Bolton and Heidelberg Mosque Imam Alaa Elzokm have been invited but have not confirmed their attendance.

At that time on Tuesday, Khalil will be appearing at a forum on the arts industry policies of the respective parties hosted by community radio station 3RRR at its Brunswick East building. Beginning at 6.30pm, the event will begin with a panel featuring local artists Sui Zhen, Kylie Auldist, and Nick Brown of Cable Ties, before turning to responses from Kahlil and Greens Senator Steph Hodgins-May.

A fourth forum, on public education and community infrastructure, is set to be held in Coburg on April 22.