“Our November 2026 campaign started yesterday.”
Paul Hopper doesn’t sound like a two-time loser.
Despite again failing to win the seat of Werribee at Saturday’s by-election, the Wyndham businessman and independent candidate has taken heart from securing nearly 15 per cent of first preference votes to come third behind Labor’s John Lister and the Liberal’s Steve Murphy in the contest to replace former treasurer, Tim Pallas, in the now marginal seat.
While the government is likely to still retain Werribee, the thumping 17 per cent swing it suffered, combined with much of it going to independents like him rather than the Liberals, has convinced Mr Hopper to not just go again at next year’s state election, but go bigger.
“I will definitely contest in Werribee in 2026 and we’ll aim to run lower house candidates in all 11 western suburbs lower house seats and the upper house as well,” said Mr Hopper of his plans to run candidates under the banner of the West Party, which he and a number of other independent candidates established last year, but weren’t able to register in time for the Werribee by-election.
He said his experience on the campaign trail indicated that voters’ frustration with the major parties was unlikely to go away.
“They’re losing trust. They’re sick of the party politics and we’ve been reinforced by the result.”
Mr Hopper said another message he took from the campaign was that one issue concerned voters above all others.
“The number one was public safety,” he said.
“Roads and public transport are major issues, but at the end of the day, they’re a pain in the backside.
“But public safety is emotional. If people start feeling unsafe in their homes, that’s something we don’t want in our society,” said Mr Hopper who wants more investment in wrap-around services for at-risk youth and less tolerance for repeat offenders to help address the problem.
“Everyone’s had a gut full of the catch and release of the serious repeat offenders.”
As for transport, he urged the government to respond to the by-election result by scrapping major projects like Suburban Rail Loop and redirecting the funds to transport needs in the west.
“They’ve dug a big hole with the budget and they’ve got themselves into a corner and the only way out is to pause those projects,” Mr Hopper said.
“But I don’t think that will happen.”
The Victorian Electoral Commission expects the final result of the by-election to be announced on Friday.
