Today on Uprise Radio we are talking about local council elections and the Victorian Socialists expanded plans - the youngish party is running council candidates in 5 electorates across Melbourne, giving people in Hume, Maribyrnong, Darebin, Moreland and Melbourne City a chance to put an anti-capitalist presence into their local council machinery. Local councils are often characterized as the petty, grasping cousins of Oz’ large political family - filled with puppet candidates driven by developers and single issue obsessives. Yet the local council also shapes a community’s values and can project and protect citizen’s aspirations towards economic justice, access to amenities and a vibrant community life. More recently we have seen small communities activate through councils to provide subsidised clean energy, transport and even broadband. 

We are joined today by two Victorian Socialist candidates - Liz Walsh is running in Maribyrnong and Daniel Taylor is running in Moreland. Voting will be done via post and closes Friday 23rd of October.