MORE than 50 days after being announced the Labor candidate for Ovens Valley, Gail Cholosznecki has made her first appearance in the North East.
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Yesterday Ms Cholosznecki visited Wangaratta and took tours of TAFE, the saleyards and ambulance station.
She was also challenged by voters and asked why she was standing when she lived in Melbourne.
“The reason I originally ran was because there was nobody up here willing to do it and the people who live here have a right to have a candidate they can vote for,” she said.
“If there was somebody willing to run I wouldn’t have stood.”
The candidate, who is a resident of Keilor Downs in Melbourne’s west, confirmed she was looking at houses in the North East yesterday morning and would consider moving.
“But until the election is over I’m not going to move up here of course but if I’m successful yes I will,” she said.
Ms Cholosznecki said her advantage over rival candidates was her “clean skin”.
“I know Tim McCurdy has court action pending and I know Julian Fidge has as well,” she said.
“I’m not saying they’re guilty or innocent but I have none of that.”
She is also a former union official and said she was used to listening to people and responding to their concerns.
While in Wangaratta she said the TAFE expressed worries about a lack of government support.
“They have funding concerns because they deal with a lot of people who have disabilities and a whole range of issues,” she said.
“They don’t have enough funding to assist them and they need another person and can only do that with funding, but they can’t get funding for another person.”
Ms Cholosznecki said she had also previously worked in employment services and helped people with disabilities or those affected by drugs such as ice.
“I explained to them what we used to do and I’m going to see if I can help them, regardless of whether I get elected or not,” she said.
“They’ve given me information about their programs which I will read.”
Ms Cholosznecki will still not be available to attend the final week of the Victorian election campaign or the Victorian Farmers Federation candidates’ forum.