I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/diana.hogg.79
Themes: Not taking the Western Suburbs for granted! Mental health, transport, infrastructure, petrol prices, environment.

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

As an ungrouped independent, Grima does not get a group voting ticket, but it’s always interesting to see where the independents are placed by other parties.

The Greens put Grima at 10th on their ticket, directly after the Victorian Socialists and the Animal Justice.  This is clearly not a random choice, since fellow ungrouped independent Kathy Majdlik is only at 26th.

Hinch and the ALP put Grima at 14th and 15th, respectively (directly after Majdlik in both cases).

Most other parties put them low down the ballot, but it’s worth noting that the Australian Liberty Alliance makes a point of distinguishing between the two, putting Grima at 32, well ahead of Majdlik at 48.

The Body Politic
Policies, Snark, Terrible Theme Songs and Other Observations


Ms Grima is an independent candidate for the Western Metropolitan Region.  She is a resident of Altona, has stood as a local council candidate in the past, and while she isn’t a councillor, she is clearly heavily involved with council activities and is on the board of the Laverton Community Association.

Grima’s main online profile is on Facebook, though there is also a nice article in the Star Weekly about her campaign for cheaper petrol in the Western suburbs.

Her Facebook page contains her how to vote card – which is just her, then ‘your preferred candidate’.  She also has a flyer, which tells us:

Diana is an independent that wants Victorian Government to bring the Western Suburbs to the forefront of our state, and focus on:

  • Infrastructure
  • Transport solutions
  • Education quality outcomes
  • Childcare
  • Social policy – mental health support, drug addiction treatment, school free of bullying, investment in safe youth recreation activities
  • The environment

We are the fastest growing area in Australia and it’s time to invest in our future now!  We will no longer be taken for granted if give me your vote.

Elsewhere she says:

Hi, my name is Diana Grima and I have decided to to run for the Victorian Legislative council this November.

Why? because, if successful, I would be able to influence all legislation that affects those who live in the western suburbs. As the fastest growing area in Australia, I believe that we can no longer be taken for granted and must fight to be at the fore front and focus of the next Victorian government after the election. My interest goes beyond just infrastructure the environment and planning issues {which are extremely important} and social problems and the systems and associated policy of government to deal with these. I care about the lives of our children, the next generation, pre- school, child care, aged care, the education system which must better deal with bullying and support learning programs for those who are having difficulties.

Lip service to those goals is not enough, we have to get real and create a better future for all of us.

Every few years, someone in the Western Suburbs gets justifiably cranky about the fact that nobody ever gives them any infrastructure (the Liberals don’t bother, because they will never get those votes anyway – and Labor doesn’t bother because they will never lose those votes anyway), and starts a political party to do something about it.  Grima looks to me like the inheritor of this particular tradition.

Grima seems to be reasonably left-leaning socially, and a little more Facebook stalking tells me that she likes the idea of a Seniors Playgrounds and supports Intersex Awareness and, by extension, LGBTQIA+ rights.  She is concerned about mental health services, aged care staffing ratios, and keeping the ABC in public hands.

This is beginning to feel rather stalkerish, perhaps because unlike many candidates, Grima’s Facebook page feels pretty much like the Facebook pages of a lot of people I know, so I’m going to leave it at that for now.

I think if you live in the Western suburbs and like to support local, independent candidates with mildly left-of-centre political views, Grima would be a fairly good pick.  I’d be putting her high on my ballot if she were in my region.