For Narre Warren North candidate Stephen Capon, running as an independent is all about representing the “true voice” of the community.
The 25-year-old will go up against Labor’s Belinda Wilson in the upcoming November State election – and he hopes to give her a run for her money.
“I want to make it a genuine competition and give people an alternative, so that, if people are dissatisfied with the major parties, they do have a credible alternative in me,” he said.
“Independents are truly the only ones who can genuinely represent what the community wants, because they don’t have a party to answer to.”
The Narre Warren local has housing affordability, the environment and the need for integrity in Parliament at the top of his priority list ahead of his campaign.
“Unfortunately I feel a lot of the recent news articles speak for themselves, and I think it comes back to the idea that in a major party you’re representing a political party and not necessarily your electorate,” he said.
“I think I have the advantage that I don’t have to struggle with party politics, I can truly vote for what the community wants and I think that would help with a lot of these integrity issues.”
“I genuinely want to listen and hear from people and that’s what being a community representative is about.”
Balancing his campaign with his job as an electrical engineer, Mr Capon grew up in Endeavour Hills and Narre Warren, attending nearby Maranatha Christian School and Doveton Baptist Church.
He believes increasing vacant property tax and investment property rates could assist in decreasing house prices.
When it comes to the environment, reducing single use plastics and increasing native flora and fauna in housing developments are policies Mr Capon would try to implement.
“We are absolutely killing the planet and we need to do more about it… my aim is for my generation to leave the environment in a better state than previous generations have,” he said.
But swaying loyal Labor voters in the electorate will be no easy feat.
The Narre Warren North Electorate has been held by the ALP since its inception in 2002, winning the 2018 State Election with 50.1 per cent of first preference votes.
As current MP Luke Donnellan exits parliament at the end of this term, Mr Capon said he hopes to make the major parties work harder to win the support of voters.
“I want to give them a good challenge and hopefully encourage them to be a bit more upfront and a bit more honest and a bit more accountable and genuinely make them work for it,” he said.
While he admits his age is a talking point, Mr Capon contests he has “new thinking and new perspective”.
“It is a valid criticism because I don’t have that lived experience…but I’ve got ideas, I want to hear from people, I’ve got energy, I’ve got passion and I’m ready to go,” he said.
“It means I don’t have 40 years of past thinking weighing me down, and I’m not set in my ways of thinking,”.
