By Kyra Gillespie
Drouin East resident Christine Maxfield is standing as the Labor candidate for the seat of Narracan.
Ms Maxfield has lived in the Narracan electorate for over thirty years and in that time has been actively involved in the community through landcare groups, local schools, kindergartens and sporting groups.
Currently she commutes to Melbourne where she works as a Union Workcover Advisor.
“There are many people commuting to Melbourne who would prefer to work locally,” Ms Maxfield said.
“Jobs in our towns are critical and with a Labor Government we can address this in a positive way.
“Public transport is a major component of where people decide to live. Access to a train service that gets you safely to Melbourne or a bus service that can move residents around our towns provides opportunities for residents to travel independently of their cars.
“This Labor Government has implemented infrastructure that has upgraded level crossings and plan and design second platforms at Bunyip and Longwarry. From 2018 to 2020 we are preparing station upgrades and track duplication and importantly encouraging contractors to employ locals with particular emphasis on young people.”
If elected, she said she would lobby the state government for more funding for general healthcare.
“Healthcare is also important to our locals. Not just acute and sub-acute care but also access to allied health services, infant health services, immunisations and mental health services.
“Our population is growing incredibly in our region and so are our needs for better healthcare.”
As a former teacher, other priorities for Ms Maxfield lie in education and in particular, funding for local TAFE.
“From 2019, Free TAFE will enable more Victorians to get the skills they need for jobs in the state’s unprecedented infrastructure boom, as well as for careers in areas of high social need such as supporting people with disabilities.
“Free TAFE will be available for 10 additional non-apprenticeship courses in areas ranging from community services to construction and cyber security, as well as two additional pre-apprenticeship courses.”
She said health, education, jobs and public transport were the big-ticket issues for Narracan residents.
“Health, education, jobs and public transport are the issues that people in Narracan tell me are important to them. I believe an Andrews Labor Government has delivered and will continue to deliver on all these issues.”
The district, encompassing Nar Nar Goon, Bunyip, Garfield, Tynong and much of West Gippsland, has been held by Liberal MP Gary Blackwood for 12 years.
While Ms Maxfield is making her state political debut, she has represented Labor on a federal scale in past elections.
In 2007 and 2010, she challenged the seat of McMillan, now renamed Monash, but was defeated by Russell Broadbent on both occasions.
Ms Maxfield only put her name forward for the seat a month out from the state, a move her husband Ian Maxfield, who previously represented Narracan from 1999 to 2006, said was because “someone pulled out last minute.”
Speaking with the Gazette last month, the Union Workcover Advisor doubted the late endorsement would work against her.
“Whether I decided now or six months ago, I think people will see it as a choice, not a last-minute inclusion,” she said.
“If people want to get more for Narracan, they need to make Narracan marginal.”
