By AIDAN KNIGHT
A SECOND candidate has emerged for the Morwell River Ward by-election, with Guss Lambden confirming he will contest the August poll.
Mr Lambden, a V/Line authorised officer and former navy radar operator, said concerns about safety in Morwell’s CBD and a desire to see greater progress across Latrobe City motivated his decision to run.
Drawing on his day job working on the rail network, including at Morwell station and the bus interchange, Mr Lambden said stamping out antisocial behaviour in the CBD and mall would be his number one priority if elected.
He described witnessing and reporting regular incidents at the interchange and along Commercial Road, and said the current environment was deterring business and making residents feel unsafe.
“I would not start a business in Commercial Road,” he said.
“You can have the best business in the world, but you’re not going to run it down there with people screaming and yelling and drinking, and drug-taking day and night.”
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former councillor Tracie Lund and, so far, only two prospective candidates have publicly emerged.
Mr Lambden is the first to formally confirm his candidacy, while fellow hopeful John Ellingham has publicly indicated he is considering contesting the seat.
“It’ll be the friendliest by-election ever,” Mr Lambden told the Express, if it comes down to a choice between the two.
The pair have known each other for years through their involvement in local football umpiring, and despite potentially being opposed at the ballot paper, both have informed the Express of a strong mutual respect for each other.
While Mr Ellingham resides within the Morwell Ward, Mr Lambden was born and raised in Moe. He returned to his hometown following a hospitality stint in Cairns after leaving the navy.
He ran at the last council election, securing 38.23 per cent of the vote for Moe Ward, losing to Adele Pugsley.
Prior to that, he ran against Ms Lund in the former West Ward in 2016, and stood as an independent candidate at the 2018 state election for the seat of Narracan.
His 2024 council campaign was complicated by a series of Facebook advertisements originating from accounts based in the United States, which used his likeness and promoted his candidacy without his involvement.
Similar material featuring other local candidates drew criticism during the campaign, with some posts incorrectly describing Mr Lambden as a sitting councillor. No source for the advertisements was ever publicly identified.
“I guess I was worried no one was going to put their hand up, but then I did see John, and I thought, ‘Oh well, I’ll still put my hand up anyway.’ It’s nice knowing that you’re going into something with someone with friendly competition,” Mr Lambden said.
“It hasn’t been an easy decision. There’s pros and cons, but if we can get some improvement in the town and in the region as a whole, that’s what it’s all about.”
“It just feels like it’s very unsafe at the moment,” he said of the Morwell area, adding that he had “lost count” of how many times he had called Victoria Police as a commuter himself.
Mr Lambden said he wanted council to use its convening power more actively to support Victoria Police and PSOs, and push for better resourcing. His comments came days after Latrobe City Council voted to pursue a CBD outreach program aimed at addressing antisocial behaviour in Morwell.
“If there’s anything we can do at a council level to improve resourcing for police, we definitely [should],” he said, elaborating further that he would not be scared to use existing contacts he’s developed throughout his career to facilitate “getting them all in the same room together” and start a discussion for the municipality’s best interests.
“I don’t see the word ‘councillor’ as a real glossy position,” he said, having spent roughly a decade around both local and state politics, volunteering on campaigns within his Liberal membership.
Mr Lambden spoke candidly of factional and political dynamics already existing within Latrobe City Council, which he was ready to navigate after observing the landscape from the outside for a number of years.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to vote for what’s best for your town – if I’ve got to (hypothetically) vote opposite to a Dale (Harriman) or Joanne Campbell – so be it,” he said.
On basic infrastructure, Mr Lambden said roads and CBD lighting around Morwell were overdue for attention, and linked these safety and amenity concerns to economic revitalisation.
“Council should be doing everything possible,” he said to attract businesses as well as events to Latrobe City.
“There’s too much of a focus on your Moe, your Churchill.
“We’re not Moe, Traralgon or Morwell in isolation, we need to be a whole Latrobe City.”
It is Mr Lambden’s opinion that what should remain a “healthy and fun sporting rivalry” between towns should not spill any further into capital works and budget decisions, stressing that smaller towns also need to be more recognised as “part of the equation”.
Mr Lambden says he is not fond of the idea of “career councillors”, and also expressed support for younger representation in local government, pointing to the election of Yallourn Ward’s Steph Morgan as a positive example.
“You don’t want an entire table dominated by over 55s,” he said.
Becoming stagnant is the Latrobe Valley’s worst enemy in his view, on multiple levels.
He said seeing limited change across the region after some years away was one of the factors that first inspired him to seek elected office.
“That’s basically why I ran for council the first time,” he said.
Despite the contest ahead, Mr Lambden said the by-election should remain focused on securing strong representation for residents.
“We just need a strong candidate, whether it’s myself or John,” he said.
The Morwell River by-election will be held via post on Saturday, August 1.
Candidate nominations close at 12 noon on Tuesday, June 23. Further information can be found via https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/voting/current-elections/latrobe-city-council-morwell-river-ward-by-election
