Current MP: Joanne Ryan, Labor. 4/203-205 Watton Street Werribee, VIC, 3030 0397425800 [email protected]
Major Communities/Cities/Towns within Electorate: Altona Meadows and Truganina and all of Hoppers Crossing, Laverton, Laverton North, Little River, Point Cook, Seabrook, Tarneit, Werribee, Werribee South, Williams Landing and Wyndham Vale. Rural areas of Eynesbury (part), Mount Cottrell (part), Quandong, Mambourin and Cocoroc.
Key 2016 Election Information: +1.3% swing. 51.8% Labor, 31.0% Liberal, 9.8% Green on first party preference voting.
Strongest Support* for Liberal (two party preferred): Point Cook (where LP obtained 49.77% of votes), Boardwalk (LP 42.05%) and Seabrook (Lalor) (LP 40.56%).
Strongest Support* for Labor (two party preferred): Altona Meadows (ALP 77.21% of votes), Glenorden (ALP 74.32%) and Laverton North (ALP 71.77%).
*Note: 'Strongest support' determined using the following criteria: highest % of two-candidate-preferred votes, excluding pre-polling places and polling booths where the number of votes for the winning candidate was less than 1000 or over 5000. This is one example of how you might identify strategic locations in your electorate - for all 2016 election data, please see the AEC Tally Room website.
Background: Joanne worked as a teacher and principal in Melbourne’s western region for 27 years before entering politics.
Key Policy Background: Joanne has worked as the Opposition Whip, Deputy Chair of the Federal Labor Party caucus and also chairs the Social Policy Caucus Committee.
Relevant Information/Links to Community: Joanne and the Lalor electorate were the centre of controversy during this years pre-election campaigning. The Australia First Party ran a strong anti-immigration campaign within the electorate. A circulated email linked to an anonymous post was underlined by racism and xenophobia. The contents, inciting racists and xenophobic views, accused both Joanne and the Liberal party of “...plonking immigrants and refugees…” in the Lalor Electorate. In response, Joanne stated that she was proud of the Lalor people for to not being distracted by “...fear campaigns based on race and religion.”
Record on Issues Related to Refugees: Joanne has demonstrated strong support for legislation regarding the rights of people seeking asylum and refugees. She voted strongly on implementing refugee and protection conventions, increasing scrutiny of management of people seeking asylum whilst strongly opposing regional processing of people seeking asylum and temporary protection visas.
Other Potential Community and Advocacy Links: Whilst Joanne has a good record on legislative issues regarding people seeking asylum and refugees, she has not spoken or acted significantly to this issue within the public domain. However, she has strong historical links to environmental protection and conservation groups in the Lalor electorate, serving as the Chair of Werribee Residents against Toxic Dump (WRATD) and successfully leading the “No Toxic Dump” campaign.
Key Industries within Electorate: Some heavy industries and manufacturing, market gardening, wineries, Melbourne's water treatment plant, Werribee Racecourse and Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre, Werribee Mercy Hospital, University of Melbourne Veterinary School, Agriculture and Food Technology Precinct, tertiary education facilities, Werribee Open Range Zoo, tourism precincts including beaches, retail precincts and shopping centres.
Sources:
http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/vic/lalor.htm
http://www.joanneryan.com.au/contact
http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/lalo/
http://www.starweekly.com.au/news/ryan-in-strong-lalor-win/
https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/lalor/joanne_ryan
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=249224