The Victorian Socialists candidate discusses housing, public transport, crime prevention and the case for a minor-party vote.
Andrew Cheeseman, the Victorian Socialists candidate for Frankston, says housing insecurity, living costs and public transport are central concerns for local voters.
The Skye resident spoke with STPL News by phone about his campaign for November’s Victorian state election. He is contesting the seat held by Labor MP Paul Edbrooke.
Why Is Andrew Cheeseman Running For Frankston?
Cheeseman said concern about inequality had shaped his adult politics.
“And I think when I look at both Australia and the world today, I see inequality everywhere.”
Those concerns led him into charity work as a teenager. He began comparing the money charities raised with what he believed banks extracted from the poorer countries they were helping.
“That just drove me to investigate further and convinced me that activism was the approach instead.”
He also questioned corporate influence, naming BHP and National Australia Bank as examples of companies whose decisions affected people’s lives.
“The most important decisions that are made are made in corporate boardrooms, not by anyone that you can vote for.”
His published candidate profile pledges to retain the lower of the Frankston or Victorian median wage if elected. He would donate the rest of his parliamentary salary to community campaigns.
Housing And The Cost Of Living
Asked about Frankston’s priorities, Cheeseman linked local pressures with statewide decisions.
“I think that one of the most central issues is housing security and affordability.”
He also pointed to food and transport costs, saying fuel prices made everyday trips harder where public transport was limited.
As a tenant, Cheeseman described himself as relatively fortunate. He said his landlord’s experience with previous tenants had given him greater bargaining power.
However, he viewed the wider relationship between tenants and landlords as unequal.
“It’s such an uneven, such an unfair bargaining position to be in.”
He called for stronger controls on landlords and opposed treating housing as a commodity.
The party’s Housing For All policy proposes a Victorian Public Housing Authority with a publicly owned construction company.
It would aim to build at least 15,000 new public homes each year for at least 10 years.
“Deal with all of the scalping in the industry and make it so that housing is about human need, not what developer can make a dollar, what bank can make a dollar out of denying it to people.”
Frankston Rail Extension And Baxter Interchange
Cheeseman said Peninsula commuters parking at Frankston station put pressure on spaces available to residents of suburbs such as Karingal and Skye.
He proposed extending electric metropolitan services beyond Frankston.
“We need to extend the Frankston line out at least to Somerville, ideally to future proof it to Tyabb.”
Baxter, Somerville and Tyabb already have Metro-operated diesel services on the Stony Point line.
His proposal also included a large road and bus interchange at Baxter, serving commuters from places such as Mornington and Moorooduc.
“It’s drive to Baxter, know you’ll get a park, and then swap to a train instead.”
He said this could ease parking pressure at Frankston while helping travellers from elsewhere on the Peninsula.
Cheeseman described it as his personal proposal. He did not provide a costing or delivery timetable.
Crime Prevention And Gambling
Asked about crime and police recruitment, Cheeseman argued for more attention to poverty, addiction and gambling as factors contributing to offending.
He supported removing poker machines. The Victorian Socialists’ gambling policy calls for all pokies to be phased out within five years.
Cheeseman also suggested allowing victims of crimes committed to fund gambling addiction to sue gambling providers.
He said this was his personal proposal and had not been discussed by the party.
“Allow the victims of that crime to sue the gambling providers over it.”
As a hypothetical example, he described a charity whose employee stole money to gamble. He argued it should be able to seek redress from the gambling providers.
He did not explain how liability would be established.
Cheeseman also supported greater emphasis on rehabilitation, criticising prison systems that left people with criminal connections and few prospects for rebuilding their lives.
He described the danger of those systems becoming:
“assembly lines for broken people who will hurt people.”
Reaching Disillusioned Voters
Asked about One Nation, Cheeseman distinguished its committed supporters from people considering the party because they distrusted the major parties.
He did not expect to win over longstanding supporters, but believed some dissatisfied voters remained open to another approach.
“Those are the people that I think that, to some extent, a more hopeful message of wanting change can actually sway.”
Why Vote For A Minor Party?
Cheeseman said he did not regard himself as one of the Victorian Socialists candidates likely to win a seat.
He described Labor as “the lesser evil”, while making clear he was not an ALP supporter and was critical of the party.
Asked whether voting for him would be a wasted vote, he pointed to preferential voting.
“So it’s not a wasted vote. It becomes the vote you would have made without me running.”
Under Victoria’s preferential voting system, voters choose the order of their preferences. If their first-choice lower house candidate is excluded, their vote transfers to their next preferred candidate still in the count.
Cheeseman also argued that a stronger Socialist primary vote could pressure whichever party formed government, even without winning a local seat.
“And at the same time, being able to send a message on top of your vote.”
