MELBOURNE, 7 August 2022: The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for Cranbourne is Pauline Richards of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). In the 2018 election under the two-party preferred system, she got 60.98 % of votes (31291 preferred votes) and Liberal Ann-Marie Hermans got 39.02 % of votes (20021 preferred votes). The Australian Green’s vote was 3.93 %. So, to change this situation, Matthew Guy has chosen the known name, Jagdeep Singh, a restauranter to take on ALP’s Pauline.
The news came on a sunny afternoon at the Casey Fields Play Space and Village Green, where Jagdeep and a big lineup of Punjabi supporters with Matthew Guy and Jason Wood gathered, and the Liberal campaign for Cranbourne was launched amid Chicken Tikka, Samosa, and Chicken Sausages. The barbeque’s message was not just for Cranbourne, but for the southeast. The Libs are damn serious for upsets here. But one has to see the stats.
Indian ancestry (includes Punjabi) in Cranbourne (2016 Census), says the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is 4.6 %, the fifth largest after English 23.7%, Australian 22.3%, Irish 6.1%, and Scottish 5.6%. Traditionally, Indians here have been with the ALP. Jagdeep Singh himself was in Labor till recently and to pitch a known Ex-Labor Indian name (Punjabi) in a Labor stronghold is bold but could be a gamble. The buzz among Jagdeep’s supporters is there will be a swing. Probably not a big risk. Matthew Guy looks confident.
Labor activists in the area are watching the emerging scenario in a seat held by the ALP since 2002. A Labor activist (who did not want to be named) says, it is not easy to oust Pauline Richard. A recent story in the mainstream media talks of some possible change in the South-East. Jason Wood, Federal Liberal MP called Jagdeep Singh the man of the community saying we need more Indians in the Parliament.
