Liberal candidate Andrew Bond wants Victoria’s bail rules toughened. He claims it will help remedy a breakdown in law and order under the Andrews government.  

Victoria’s bail laws have been tightened this year, but Bond said his party wanted all violent offences to have a presumption against bail and any violation of bail conditions to lead to immediate remand.

Mr Bond has been a councillor for Lake Ward in the City of Port Philip since 2012. He was moved on this issue by concern from his constituents about a brawl that took place in St Kilda in December 2017.

Relaying his constituents’ tales of “men of African appearance” banging on doors and windows of homes near the beach, he said he believed there was an African gangs problem in Victoria.

Despite this, he did not believe it was necessary to change either legislation or police policy to “engage this racial dimension”.

The Albert Park electorate covers an affluent area of Melbourne’s inner south, from Port Melbourne to St Kilda.  It’s been held by Labor since 1950 but the Liberal candidate for the past two elections has received the larger first preference vote. Labor relies on Greens preferences.  

Mr Bond’s social media shares links to satirical articles deriding millennials, such as ‘Police Calm Millennial Protesters By Handing Out Participation Trophies‘.  “I just think that some people aren’t living in the real world,” he said when asked if these posts reflected his current views. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 38 per cent of voters in the electorate were millennials.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy recently joined Mr Bond in St Kilda to announce the party’s plan for the contested St Kilda triangle development area, which is currently being used as a carpark. The Liberal Party  advocates turning the triangle into green space and moving the car park underground.

This is Mr Bond’s first run for state Parliament. He believes the seat is winnable.  He also says he is committed to his party’s platform and core Liberal Party values.

“We believe in upholding the Constitution, parliamentary democracy, the democratic process and accountable government”, he said. 

Democratic processes in Victoria have come under scrutiny since March this year after the Liberal Party broke with tradition over pairing, the practice of allowing MPs to be absent from Parliament without it affecting their party’s numbers on the floor of Parliament. Two Liberal MPs requested voting pairs so that they could have Good Friday off for religious observance and then returned to the chamber in order to vote down the Fire Services Bill.

“It’s important to note pairing is not illegal,” he said.

On the practices of his colleagues he said, “I believe it’s up to the individual.”

Road noise has been another issue of particular concern to the Albert Park electorate in recent years with locals leading a grassroots campaign that led to VicRoads instituting a truck ban along Beach Road.

Mr Bond said he wouldn’t oppose this in office and believed efforts also needed to be made to limit motorcycle noise.

His main reason for running was the performance of the Andrews Government.