Do you live in the district of Pascoe Vale? With a state election on November 28, candidates forums provide a great opportunity for residents to quiz candidates. The Pascoe Vale forum will be held on Thursday November 5 at the Pool Hall, Sussex Neighbourhood House, 7 Prospect St, Pascoe Vale. There will be a barbeque from 6.30pm with the forum starting at 7pm.

The forum is being organised by CAM and Neighbours United for Climate Action. You can find the Facebook event here, and register for the forum (including submitting your questions to candidates) 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 Pascoe Vale electoral district. Currently, six candidates have indicated they are running, with nominations closing on November 9.

Who are the candidates?

All candidates are being invited to the forum. To date the Liberal Party have not announced a candidate, but are expected to do so. Candidates announced so far:

• Anthony Cianflone (Labor). He is the sitting member, elected in 2022. He grew up and currently lives in the area.
• Angelica Panopoulos (Greens). She lives locally and ran for Pascoe Vale in the 2022 state election. She is a former Mayor of Merri-bek, having served on Council from 2020 to 2024.
• Jacob Andrewartha (Socialist Alliance). He lives locally and previously ran in the Merri-bek Council election.
• Yasemin Shamsili (Victorian Socialists). She lives and works locally. This is her first election.
• Andrew Forehan (One Nation). He is a real estate agent in Craigieburn. This is his first election,
• Kathrine Ashton (Family First). She lives in the western suburbs. She ran for Northcote in the 2022 state election.

Issues for the Pascoe Vale district

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

Affordable and Renewable Energy

CAM is campaigning for Affordable and Renewable Energy for all. See our campaign page, and our recent article on electricity prices.

Central Coburg Activity Centre Plans

Both the state government and Merri-bek Council have plans for the Central Coburg Activity Centre. See our report on the various issues here.

Development of former Kangan TAFE site

Last year the state government consulted on plans for the former Kangan TAFE site in Coburg North. See our report here.

Train Line upgrades

The Pascoe Vale 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.

Bus service upgrades

CAM has been advocating for better buses in Merri-bek. See our campaign page. Two campaigns that particular affect residents of the Pascoe Vale district are the 526 bus campaign and the 534 bus campaign.

Supporting our waterways

CAM supports the protection and improvement of our natural environment, including our local creeks – Moonee Ponds, Westbreen, Merri and Edgars Creeks. This needs the support of our state government.