Liberal Candidate Targets Rising Crime in Prahran’s Progressive Heartland

People enjoy the weather at St Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia on Nov. 27, 2020. Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Liberal candidate for the progressive-leaning Prahran by-election, Rachel Westaway, says her family escaped communism by migrating to Australia, and this is why she wants to make a difference as a politician.

Westaway has heavily campaigned on reducing the cost of living, lowering taxes, fees and charges, and improving community safety.

She is passionate about reducing rising crime rates in her inner-city district that borders the CBD which includes St, Kilda, South Yarra, and parts of South Melbourne.

Data from the independent Crime Statistics Agency for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024, showed total recorded criminal incidents in the Prahran electorate rising to record highs.

Burglaries were up 39 percent, motor vehicle theft was up 68 percent, theft from motor vehicles in South Yarra rose by 64 percent, residential burglaries in South Yarra were up 43 percent, and retail theft in Windsor rose a massive 158 percent.

“The crime is a major, major issue. And that’s hearing about not just one burglary here and there—this is every street that I walk down,” Westaway told The Epoch Times.

“Locals are telling me they’ve been broken into numerous times, or their cars have been stolen.

“And it’s not just robberies—it’s one lady who was opposite the Flying Duck Hotel, she said to me she was tied up at knifepoint.

“I don’t need to be a politician. I’m doing it because I’m so committed.”

Westaway said she would do everything she could to maintain Australia’s democratic ideals, if elected.

“My father is Thai-Chinese, and my grandparents escaped China from communism,” she said.

“We live in a democracy. My family came for a better life from Thailand, and my dad came to Australia to study and met my mum.

“International issues cause disunity and promote racism. It was why I got involved in the Liberal Party back in the early-2000s.

Competing in a Heavily Progressive Seat

Labor will not field a candidate in the heavily progressive electorate, which saw Sam Hibbins win 62 percent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis.

New Victorian Liberals leader Brad Battin called his Labor counterparts “cowardly” for not fielding a candidate, claiming it was aimed at protecting Labor Premier Jacinta Allan’s standing.

Westaway will compete with Greens candidate Angelica Di Camillo for the seat, as well as a host of independent candidates.

Di Camillo is prioritising an equitable future for all Prahran residents.

“The Liberals will push up rents, make it harder to buy a home, give more money to big corporations and take away the rights of our diverse community. This is not who we are,” she said.

“If you want positive change, we need more voices outside the two major parties.

“Both major parties are backing unlimited rent increases, pushing up house prices and giving tax breaks to property investors, and expanding climate-destroying fossil fuels—including gas drilling near the Twelve Apostles.”

Police Need to Feel Valued: Westaway

Battin, a former office at Prahran Police Station, believes residents have been let down, and were ineffective at addressing the concerns of local residents.

He pointed to the long-running pay dispute between the state government and Victoria Police.

“These crimes are occurring because there are fewer police on the street. The Allan Labor government is doing nothing to solve the front-line policing crisis and instead are at war with hardworking Victoria Police officers,” Battin said last month, while serving as the shadow minister for police.

“At the upcoming by-election, Prahran residents will have a clear choice. Nothing will change under the same old representation.”

If elected, Westaway said she would call on the government to guarantee the 24-hour Prahran Police Station would remain open and fully staffed.

And she stands alongside Battin, who has called for an urgent change to the Allan government’s bail laws, after concerning data revealed that 100 kids between 10 and 17 years were involved in at least 30 crimes last year.

“What we have seen with no move-on laws ... and diminished bail laws, is it means we can’t punish people and fix a system,” Westaway said.

“So when I speak to people at the Cranbourne Police Station, they’re telling me that it’s not even about more police ... they’re saying if the bail laws were fixed they wouldn’t be constantly chasing their tails.”

Hopes of Winning Slim

Westaway says regular break-ins are an issue for small business.

She pointed out The Leaf Lane Café at South Yarra had been broken into six times, with many in the region almost at breaking point.

“People are waking up. That’s what I’m excited about. It’s not about me so much,” she said.

“We’re 17 seats behind and I’m not going to change government in this election.

“But I will show what true representation is like. I’ll make certain the people of Prahran ... I will make them proud to live in this seat again, and not scared.