The Liberals, who are likely to win at least one seat in the western suburbs under Upper House reform, have vowed to put the screws into what they claim are under-performing Labor MPs.
In a meeting with members of the Hillside Residents’ Group to discuss their top concerns, Mr Baillieu compared the ALP in the West to an octopus’ tentacle that needed to be cut off.
The residents’ group lamented the lack of a secondary school in the suburb and trouble in lobbying for one.
Mr Baillieu said: “There are local (MPs) out there who are like a tentacle – who grab you and hold you and organise meetings for you and appear generally sympathetic.
“The tentacle will hold you and in the meantime the head of the octopus is stripping the flesh off your bones.
“I’m not sure if this rings true in your experience – but if you want to get some action you have to cut the tentacle off.”
In Sunshine, Mr Baillieu and the Liberal candidates for the Western Metropolitan Region met cam-paigners lobbying for more aquatic facilities in the West.
Mr Baillieu, a noted swimming enthusiast, told the group “there are a lot of pools in the eastern suburbs”.
He said the Bracks Government had been keener to spend money where it got some political investment and had neglected the western suburbs as a result.
“Health issues, road issues, schools issues, police issues and community issues – everywhere we go people say we’re being neglected,” Mr Baillieu said in an interview with Star.
“What we’ve seen is a decline in services and standards and in this area there is an alarming number of people being left out and they want greater support.”
The Liberals’ top-spot candidate for Western Region, Bernie Finn, was blunter in his assessment.
“I was aware that people are angry and that they wanted change – but wasn’t aware just how strongly they want it,” Mr Finn, a former MP in the Kennett Government, said.
“Labor sees this (area) as just grazing territory and they use it to play their political games – you’ve got all these characters playing their branch-stacking games.
“Then you have the Brimbank Council which is, God knows, something else altogether.”
The Liberals hope to win at least two out of five seats in the Western Metropolitan Region in the November poll.
Labor is expected to win at least three.
