By Michael Scalzo

Wimmera people will have an opportunity to get an ‘inside word’ from candidates seeking their support in this month’s Federal Election at a forum in Horsham.

ACE Radio will host a ‘Mallee Candidate Forum’ at Horsham Town Hall next week and has extended an invitation to all candidates running for the federal seat of Mallee. 

ACE Radio Horsham content director and 3WM Afternoons presenter Adam Roche, who will compere proceedings, said the forum would provide a chance for Mallee voters to ask federal candidates where they stood on issues important to them.
Mr Roche said the candidate forum was an opportunity for Wimmera residents to talk directly to candidates who could represent them in Canberra, ask ‘burning questions’ and hear from all sides of the political spectrum. 

“The federal seat of Mallee is huge – it is the 12th biggest federal seat in the country, and the needs of people in the Wimmera and southern Mallee are likely to be different to those in other corners of the seat,” he said. 

“That is why it is important to host a candidate forum in Horsham, where attendees will be encouraged to ask the candidates questions specific to the Wimmera and the region where they live and work.”

Mallee candidates, listed as they appear on the 2022 Mallee ballot paper, are current Nationals Member for Mallee Anne Webster; independents Sophie Baldwin and Claudia Haenel; Chris Lahy, Australian Citizens Party; Carole Hart, Labor; Sam McColl, Greens; Stuart William King, United Australia Party; and Vanessa Atkinson, Pauline Hanson’s One Party. 

Mr Roche said the evening would be an example of Australian democracy. 

“One of the beautiful things about living in this country is democracy, and at the Mallee Candidate Forum people will have the opportunity to communicate directly with their politicians,” he said. 

“If people, for whatever reason, are unable to attend, the forum will be live-streamed online to give people the ability to hear from their candidates from home.”

The federal seat of Mallee is Victoria’s largest by area and covers more than 80,000 square kilometres, from Mildura in the north to Maryborough in the south-east. 

It includes postcodes in 12 rural shires and councils in north and western Victoria including Buloke, Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Hindmarsh, Horsham, Loddon, Mildura, Swan Hill, West Wimmera, Yarriambiack, part of Northern Grampians and part of Pyrenees Shire Council. 

The Mallee Candidate Forum will be on Thursday, May 12 in Horsham Town Hall’s Heritage Hall from 6pm. 

Admission to the seated forum is free and refreshments will be available after the event. 

Live-steaming of the forum will be available via The Weekly Advertiser’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0IBXVlaY5E.

People can visit ACE RADIO and The Weekly Advertiser’s social media on the evening for links. 

Horsham Rural City Council and West Vic Business are supporting the forum ahead of the election on May 21. 

The entire May 4, 2022 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!