Complaint over

By Bridget Brady
FORMER City of Casey councillor has lodged an objection with the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), questioning the enrolment details of councillor Kevin Bradford.
Liberal Party member Ben Clissold said Cr Bradford was enrolled to vote at a Cranbourne West address, but told residents at a public meeting that he lived in the Brookland Greens estate.
Mr Clissold said Cr Bradford had misled residents if he was correctly enrolled, or may be ineligible to vote, and therefore stand for re-election, if he lived in Brookland Greens because he had not updated his enrolment details.
But Mr Clissold said there were no “cut and dry” rules about this.
Cr Bradford, a two-term Mayfield Ward representative, did not wish to comment.
“I think I’ll leave that one alone,” he said.
A candidate can contest a position for any ward so long as they are enrolled to vote in their municipality.
But Mr Clissold said the Electoral Act required people to update their enrolment within 21 days of a change of address or they may not be eligible to be a candidate for an election because they are not eligible to vote.
“When I heard reports of Cr Bradford living in Brookland Greens the cynical side of me thought here we go again,” Mr Clissold said.
Cr Bradford said, at a large public meeting in September, that he was a resident of the methane gas affected Brookland Greens estate.
“The alarm bells rang because it just didn’t sit right. It sounded too convenient.”
VEC spokesperson Michael Newhouse said he could not confirm or comment on individual complaints.
“I can’t confirm that a complaint is lodged,” he said.
Mr Newhouse said it was a requirement of the State Electoral Act for people to update their address once they had lived at their new location for a month. He said people had 21 days to do this.
Mr Clissold said the situation needed VEC scrutiny.
“He (Bradford) may well be living in Brookland Greens, but his enrolment is not saying that. It’s just something that needs to be checked,” he said.