THE POLL BLUDGER
Victorian Legislative Assembly Election 2006

CLAYTON
Labor 23.8%

This suburban seat 20 kilometres south-east of the Melbourne CBD has been safe for Labor since its creation in 1985, the closest margin being 8.4 per cent at the 1992 election that brought Jeff Kennett to power. The member since 1996 has been Hong Lim (right), a senior figure in the Cambodian community and founder of the Cambodian Association of Victoria, Which according to Michael Gordon of The Age was used by Lim as a means for recruiting migrants to the ALP. Lim held parliamentary secretary positions in opposition but failed to keep them upon the election of the Bracks government in 1999; however, he was appointed parliamentary secretary for Victorian communities after the 2002 election. His organisational strength came to national attention in early 2006 when he threw his weight behind Martin Pakula's preselection challenge against Simon Crean in Hotham. Lim was said to control 90 Cambodian voters among the 330 preselectors in Hotham, though Pakula in fact received only 88 votes. A source quoted by Michael Bachelard in The Australian estimated that Crean received "60 or 70" Cambodian votes. After his win, Crean warned Lim would "pay a price" for his efforts against him. Liberal candidate Michael Carty is listed on the party website only as "president of his local resident action group".

The big ticket items in the Liberals' $1.7 billion health policy unveiled in the second week of the campaign included a $60 million expansion of the Clayton campus of the Monash Medical Centre.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain