Do you live in the district of Broadmeadows? With a state election on November 28, candidates forums provide a great opportunity for residents to quiz candidates. The Broadmeadows forum will be held on Sunday November 1 from 5pm to 7pm at the Dallas Neighbourhood House, 180 Widford St, Broadmeadows.

The forum is being organised by North of Bell Street and supported by CAM. Facebook event is here. Download the poster here. The forum will also be recorded

Find out who is running, and link to candidates pages and party policies at CAM’s election page for the Broadmeadows electoral district. Currently, eight candidates have indicated they are running, with nominations closing on November 9. Most have accepted the invitation to the forum.

Who are the candidates?

• Kathleen Matthews-Ward (Labor), who is the sitting member. She lives in Glenroy and is well known in the area, having been a local councillor from 2004 to 2012.
• Baris Duzova (Liberal Party), who also ran for Broadmeadows in 2022, and as an independent in the 2020 and 2024 Council elections.
• Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance). She is a longstanding Councillor on Merri-bek Council, and has run in many past federal and state elections.
• Mutullah Can Yolbulan (Victorian Socialist), who ran in the neighbouring district of Greenvale in the 2022 state election.
• Maryam Nasim (Greens), a law student, who lives in Fawkner. This is her first election.
• Ethan Keirs (One Nation). This is his first election.
• Rachel Unicomb (Animal Justice Party). She previously stood for Preston in the 2022 state election
• Mohamad A Elmustapha (Independent), who lives in Glenroy. He previously ran for the Broadmeadows in the 2022 state election. He has also run for Merri-bek Council in 2016, 2020 and 2024 (but was retired by VEC in 2024).

Issues for the Broadmeadows district

While the forum will consider a range of issues of concern to the Broadmeadows district, there are some that relate to CAM campaigns.

Proposed Data Centre in Campbellfield

A data centre has been proposed for former Ford site next to Upfield Station in Campbellfield. CAM supports the campaign to oppose this data centre.  Also see our campaign page.

Affordable and Renewable Energy

The Broadmeadows district is one of Victoria’s financially disadvantaged areas, particular in its northern suburbs. CAM is campaigning for Affordable and Renewable Energy for all. See our campaign page, and our recent article on electricity prices.

Train Line upgrades

The Broadmeadows district has two train lines.

• The Upfield Line has poor frequency – every 16 minutes at peak times, and every 20 minutes off-peak. It needs to be duplicated between Gowrie and Upfield Stations to allow more frequent trains, plus a new station at Campbellfield. See our campaign page.
• The Craigieburn Line has better peak services (running about every 8 minutes), but suffers from serious overcrowding. It also runs every 20 minutes off-peak.

Both the Upfield and Craigieburn Lines would be improved by implementing the Northern Rail program (i.e. duplicating the Upfield, joining the two lines to allow more trains from the north to run down the Upfield Line and electrifying the Vline section between Craigieburn and Wallan Stations, with two new stations). See fact sheet.

The Broadmeadows train stations also desperately needs an upgrade. It has been ranked as one of the worst in Melbourne. See Hume Council’s advocacy item.

Bus service upgrades

CAM has been advocating for better buses in Merri-bek. See our campaign page. We have particularly focused on Glenroy, Hadfield and Fawkner.

Waste incinerators in the north

The Broadmeadows district is reasonably close to proposed waste incinerator sites in Sunbury and Wollert. See our campaign page.