WITH less than two weeks until polling day, candidates are now in the final stretch. Early voting opens from Wednesday 22 April until Friday 1 May at Rosebud Sea Scouts Hall, Dromana Hub Shopping Centre, and Blairgowrie Community Hall.
Some big names were in town over the weekend with the highly-publicised visit by One Nation’s Pauline Hanson, and both the leader and deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, Jess Wilson and David Southwick campaigning for Anthony Marsh.
The Marsh campaign announced a commitment to improve roads across the Mornington Peninsula in an announcement on Sunday (19 April).
Leader of the Opposition, Jess Wilson, said: “My Liberals and Nationals team has a plan to deliver better local roads by reducing payments to the private consortium operating Peninsula Link whilst it is under repair and not fully available. The money saved will then be used to improve local roads across the Peninsula.”
“Under Labor, mismanaged works on the Peninsula Link have delayed and disrupted residents for too long, all whilst potholes go unfilled on local roads.
“Premier Jacinta Allan could act today to redirect funds to fixing local roads. But if she won’t, the Liberals and Nationals will.”
Liberal Candidate for Nepean, Anthony Marsh, said: “This is great news for the peninsula. For too long residents in Nepean have been taken for granted and only a Wilson Liberal and Nationals Government can deliver the funding and action needed to fix our local roads.”
Libertarian candidate for Nepean, Peter Angelico, has criticised Marsh’s latest campaign claims on roads, saying local residents are being fed spin while potholes continue to litter Nepean’s streets.
Angelico said Marsh had been running a campaign suggesting only he could fix the pothole crisis, despite the obvious state of local roads and despite claims about increased road funding already being debunked.
“A recent fact check found the much-publicised ‘72 per cent increase’ in road funding referred only to the road maintenance budget line, and that the decision driving that increase was made before Anthony Marsh became mayor. The same report also noted a significant increase in federal funding for local roads,” said Angelico.
“Anthony Marsh wants voters to believe he is the man to fix Nepean’s roads, but the potholes are still here and locals are still dodging them every day.”
Legalise Cannabis Victoria have named Renee Thompson as a candidate in the Nepean by-election saying that “LCV represents an alternative to the sea of conservative and far-right candidates in the Nepean By-Election”.
A statement from the party said that “Renee Thompson is a progressive, community and creative pillar and, a medicinal cannabis patient. Nepean has historically been a ‘safe’ Liberal seat, but despite the Liberal opposition being in absolute disarray, this by-election will be dominated by conservative and far-right candidates. Many of these candidates stoke fear and division and are seeking to capitalise on the community’s disappointment and disaffection with the major parties. But they offer only false promises and fear.”
“I am all about bringing community back together. In the wise words of Dolly Parton, ‘if you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.’ I want us to pave one together,” said Thompson.
First published in the Mornington News – 21 April 2026
