By Marcus Uhe
Primary @ Pioneers Park in Berwick was buzzing on Thursday 19 May as it hosted a live outside broadcast of ABC radio’s Mornings program with Virginia Trioli.
The live audience was glued to the two-time Walkley Award winner as she engaged with local political candidates, prominent community members and more and to find out what matters to voters in the seats of Bruce and La Trobe.
Ms Trioli, who grew up in the outer suburbs herself, said her upbringing allows her relate to constituents in the South East.
“I come from Nunawading originally in the outer east, further north than this but I’m an outer suburbs girl as well, so I know exactly what life is like out here,” she said.
“This is one of the biggest growth areas of Melbourne. It’s a real representation of what cost of living pressures must be like, housing pressures, transport, roads.
“You’ve got one seat that’s Labor (Bruce) and one seat that’s Liberal (La Trobe) and a lot of independents as well, so I thought it was a perfect microcosm.
“The two seats kind of straddle the representation of modern life in Melbourne and Victoria right now, in a way that isn’t often spoken about.”
While admitting she was not familiar with the suburb, she was blown-away with the scenery of the park as she and her broadcast team were treated to delightful late-May sunshine amongst the Autumn foliage.
“It’s glorious isn’t it? I studied up the history of this park and this area, when it was first settled, the indigenous owners as well, their tens of thousands of years of occupation.
“It’s absolutely beautiful. You’ve got this lovely building and this national trust shop there, which I plan to go in and buy some things at before I leave.
“I’ve never been to this park before but I really love it. The liquid ambers are amazing.”
As for her predictions for Saturday’s contest?
“I see them staying exactly the way that they are, to be honest. But let me just wrap a caveat around that – I’m notoriously wrong in my calls for virtually every federal election except the last one – I got that one right.”
