Shouts from the desert

While the election remains an almost under-the-radar affair for most Epping candidates, Martin Levine's campaign is progressing and his first letterbox drop arrived late last week - a four page glossy that appears to be the first in a series. The usual rule for such things (where the budget and manpower allows) is that the fourth is the one that makes the difference. Given that the election is just under three weeks away, this would fit a plan to drop one of these each week.

Much of the flyer goes over material that already appears on the web site, but there were some new items. Most importantly, he has answered the "influence of religion" question as follows:

There is a perception that those who are members of the church come from the right-wing; those who tell people what they should or shouldn’t do. My experience of church is different. I believe that the church is there to help people to grow and to find fulfillment through the development of a spiritual life. As a politician, I want to continue to encourage people to grow and to develop so that they may be the citizens who make us proud to be Australian.

Some people may expect me to go on the attack or express scepticism, however they will be disappointed. My beef with the religious right is not that they have a religious background. In fact a politician whose positions are informed by the gospels can be expected to adopt either centre-liberal or left-liberal positions that would at least seek to maintain individual freedom rather than curtail it. The problem with religion in politics is that those who bring their religion into politics do so either without understanding the message in the gospels or without caring, using religion as a flag of convenience (and I would include the entire Christian Democratic Party in these categories).

The Levine campaign is not using religion as a flag at all - rather it is background information that necessarily appears on his bio and explains how he has acquired some of the skills needed for policy development. Based on his stated positions his religious background seems to be no cause for concern, whether you are Christian, atheist or of a non-Christian faith.

There were some additional policy details too. Among them a plan to build a multi level car park for Epping Station - restricted to drivers holding a weekly train ticket. There is no question that additional parking is needed for Epping Station - with the Epping-Chatswood link almost completed and the Northwest rail link going ahead in some form, Epping will be a key station on a line that runs through all of the key northern business districts and current facilities are already inadequate. The challenge will be finding a place to put the car park and finding a way to put in adequate roads to service the car park given the geographical constraints around the station. This may need to involve widening the road bridge and adding tidal flow to Beecroft road.

The back page includes endorsements from Roland Crook - the long term Liberal Party member who resigned from the Liberal Party to support Levine's independent bid for the seat after the Party chose David Smith for Epping; Carolyn Mallam, a local marriage counsellor who works both in an independent business and with the Uniting Church; and Richard Torbay, independent member for Northern Tablelands.

Levine is already clearly the only viable independent in Epping from a policy and skills perspective. As the details of his positions are fleshed out, he is shaping up as a viable candidate overall. I will not be deciding on my voting order until the final days of the campaign, but Levine is certainly in contention for the top spot.