PUBLIC rifts appeared within the Labor Party last week as ALP members on Hobsons Bay Council barely struggle to contain their rivalry.
As predicted by the Weekly in our August 1 report, bitter infighting has divided Labor as candidates vie for poll position in the October 27 council election.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Spotswood councillor and ALP member Bill Tehan criticised Altona Meadows ward councillor and Altona ALP branch secretary Luba Grigorovitch. Cr Tehan disputes a report that Cr Grigorovitch was endorsed by Labor.
“No she isn’t!,” Cr Tehan wrote.
“She [Luba] further states that ‘There is much that needs attention in Seabrook and Laverton’ . . . I must say I think Seabrook ward councillor John Hogg has done a sterling job and does not need a slap in the face like this.”
Cr Hogg is a member of Labor’s Central branch but is running in Wetlands ward as an unsupported ALP candidate, alongside ALP-supported candidates Cr Grigorovitch and Carl Marsich.
Only two candidates will be elected in the ward which covers Altona Meadows, Seabrook and Laverton.
Hobsons Bay mayor Tony Briffa, an independent, responded to Cr Tehan’s Facebook comment: “John Hogg is a great councillor . . . and, unlike Luba, he lives in the ward.” Cr Tehan replied: “Cr Hogg is running an honest and transparent campaign which is the opposite of others. We are not using personal attacks . . . others are resorting to.”
He also has a crack at Cr Grigorovitch’s running mate Mr Marsich.
As reported by the Weekly, Mr Marsich, a former mayor, attacked Cr Briffa for claiming “excessive” taxi expenses. “Haven’t heard a peep out of former councillor Carl Marsich for four years and then he appears out of nowhere . . . to discredit the mayor,” Cr Tehan wrote.
Cr Grigorovitch said the Facebook slur was to be expected. “I am not surprised at the attacks; they have gone on for some time now. I am not willing to recognise this rubbish with a detailed response. As my Facebook followers know, I never dump on my fellow councillors. Instead I use it to inform residents about all the great stuff happening in Hobsons Bay. I suggest Cr Tehan do the same.”
Mr Marsich said: “I did stay out of council politics over the last four years until recently when I was concerned at the lack of governance and accountability within the Hobsons Bay City Council.” —Goya Dmytryshchak
