Maribyrnong councillor Catherine Cumming says federal Labor leader and Maribyrnong MP Bill Shorten has snubbed Braybrook residents, triggering her to take a tilt at federal politics.
The independent councillor last week told Star Weekly she had lodged her candidacy at the eleventh hour and would contest the July 2 election in the seat held by the Opposition Leader and prime ministerial hopeful.
Ms Cumming, a mother of five, who has spent almost 20 years on the council, said Mr Shorten had done nothing to look after the interests of his constituents since taking the seat in 2007.
Maribyrnong has been a safe Labor seat since 1969, and Ms Cumming said she had approached Mr Shorten in 2013 as Maribyrnong mayor, seeking funding for the Braybrook library.
She said she was told “Australia is a big country”.
“Bill is a man who’s out of touch,” she said. “He says he represents the working class and understands disadvantage, but … he has become a man of privilege.”
She said Mr Shorten has failed to act on local issues such as the future of the Maribyrnong Defence Force site.
“The Maribyrnong Defence Force site is sitting derelict, rotting like a ghost town on the banks of the Maribyrnong River for all to see and has become a major eyesore to the community,” she said.
Previous tilt
Ms Cumming has previously run for the Victorian state parliament as an independent. This is her first attempt to win a federal seat.
Advice presented to Maribyrnong council in 2014 by the Municipal Association of Victoria regarding councillor candidates for state or federal elections recommends councillors who nominate for either election should take leave of absence from the council from the date of their nomination until voting closes.
But advice from Local Government Victoria notes a councillor “might consider” taking a leave of absence.
Ms Cumming said she would raise her candidacy at this week’s Maribyrnong council meeting.
She said she had no intention of standing down until the election and said she would ensure there would be no conflict of interest.
In a recent statement to Star Weekly, Mr Shorten said he is “an active local member” who has spent his life standing up for people on low and middle incomes.
