{"id":737578,"date":"2026-04-18T23:03:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T23:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/737578\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T23:03:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T23:03:26","slug":"liberal-candidate-under-investigation-for-roadworks-ahead-of-nepean-by-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/737578\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberal candidate under investigation for roadworks ahead of Nepean by-election"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Liberal Party’s candidate for the crucial Nepean by-election is being investigated by Victoria’s transport department for unauthorised roadworks in a campaign stunt with Opposition Leader Jess Wilson.<\/p>\n

Early voting for the seat on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula opens on Wednesday, after first-term Liberal MP and deputy leader Sam Groth quit amid internal division.<\/p>\n

While the Liberal Party’s Anthony Marsh \u2014 a former council mayor \u2014 starts as favourite, the party is facing a serious challenge from One Nation’s Darren Hercus.<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Anthony Marsh is the Liberal Party candidate and frontrunner for the Nepean by-election. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)<\/p>\n

Mr Hercus has been banned from speaking to the ABC during the by-election by One Nation officials.<\/p>\n

He was joined on the trail by leader Pauline Hanson over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Labor is not contesting the seat, stoking Liberal fears that some ALP voters will flock to One Nation or independent candidate Tracee Hutchinson, a former ABC presenter.<\/p>\n

Candidates all agree the rundown Rosebud Hospital needs an upgrade or rebuild. Crumbling roads are also coming up as a major issue for voters.<\/p>\n

Last month, Mr Marsh joined Mr Wilson in one of her increasingly slick social media videos, filling a pothole in Dromana to highlight government failures.<\/p>\n

Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n

“Again, it seems like Jacinta Allan can’t do her job,” Ms Wilson said in the video. “So we’re going to do it for her.”<\/p>\n

But that video, immediately treated with suspicion among their political rivals, is now the subject of a complaint to the state’s Department of Transport and Planning.<\/p>\n

The complaint, seen by the ABC, questioned the safety and integrity of the works and warned it could be repeated at the November state election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its response, the department said it investigated any works carried out without appropriate permits or controls.<\/p>\n

“This matter has been escalated to our management team for review and coordination,” the department told the complainant this week.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A campaign corflute for One Nation candidate Darren Hercus. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)<\/p>\n

Mornington Peninsula Shire chief executive Mark Stoermer, asked about the unauthorised works at a council meeting last month, insisted members of the public resist doing their own repair works on public roads.<\/p>\n

“I’m going to stress that. That is a very dangerous thing to do,” Mr Stoermer said.<\/p>\n

Mr Marsh said the team ensured it was safe to fix the holes.<\/p>\n

“But it highlights that some of this stuff is quite simple to get right \u2026 but the government aren’t doing it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Marsh was also referred to the department over a photo of him marking a pothole on White Hill Road, which has an 80 kilometre per hour speed limit, while Ms Wilson has separately joined her colleagues to mow the overgrown verge beside trams and Victoria Parade traffic.<\/p>\n

A transport department spokesperson said hundreds of kilometres of Victorian roads were being rebuilt, repaired and resurfaced in the largest single-year investment in road maintenance in the state’s history.<\/p>\n

“Any works undertaken on our roads and road sides need to be done safely.”<\/p>\n

The department said works also needed to be done properly so that repairs lasted.<\/p>\n

Ms Wilson’s office was contacted.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The seat of Nepean has traditionally been represented by the Liberal Party. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)<\/p>\n

Liberal insiders temper expectations<\/p>\n

Marion Hervey has been a lifelong Liberal voter, but at this by-election she said she would vote for One Nation.<\/p>\n

“I love them. What they say, they do,” she said proudly.<\/p>\n

Sitting outside a shopping strip in Rosebud with her friend Monica Shrimpton, who was also voting for One Nation, Ms Hervey told the ABC she was sick of government “lies” and broken promises of the major parties.<\/p>\n

\"Marion<\/p>\n

Marion Hervey (left) and Monica Shrimpton say they will vote for One Nation. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)<\/p>\n

Ms Harvey said she was a big fan of Senator Hanson and had turned to One Nation after seeing the plight of farmers.<\/p>\n

“Australia is disappearing in front of my eyes,” she said.<\/p>\n

“What happened to our country?” Ms Shrimpton added.<\/p>\n

It is this type of voter sentiment that has the Liberal Party worried.<\/p>\n

Insiders have begun to temper expectations about the by-election.<\/p>\n

2026 Nepean by-election preview<\/a><\/p>\n

Voters will choose who replaces former professional tennis player and deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth at the Nepean by-election ahead of the Victorian state election in November.<\/p>\n

While the Nepean result is inconsequential to the strength of the Victorian government, it is a genuine litmus test of the Liberal’s strategy and chances at the November election.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the ABC at the Rosebud Hospital, Mr Marsh said only the Liberal Party would be able to rebuild the hospital.<\/p>\n

Mr Marsh was not a Liberal member until he was preselected, with the party waiving its own rules to allow him to be its candidate.<\/p>\n

“Most people would realise that I’ve aligned with Liberal values for a long time,” he said.<\/p>\n

It has infuriated local rank-and-file Liberal members, with some warning that the party would lose critical volunteers and voters due to the snub.<\/p>\n

“The local members didn’t want Marsh, and everyone is very angry about being shut out of the process. He comes with too much baggage and there’s serious questions about his record on council,” one local Liberal said.<\/p>\n

“We have no local volunteers and many party members are openly backing either One Nation or the independent [Tracee Hutchinson].”<\/p>\n

\"Rosebud<\/p>\n

The Nepean contest is being seen as a guide for the Liberal Party’s chances at the state election.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 (ABC News: Maren Preuss)<\/p>\n

Ms Hutchinson said there was an overwhelming mood for change away from major parties in the seat.<\/p>\n

“This community has been ignored for a very long time by a two-party system that hasn’t served us at all,” she said.<\/p>\n

She is promising to set up a Nepean Youth Forum if she wins. She also highlighted homelessness in the seat<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“My hometown is the rough sleeping capital of this state. That is not good enough, and the organisations that are looking after those people are doing that work without state government funding,” she said.<\/p>\n

In a by-election that could be determined by preferences, Mr Marsh and Mr Hercus have both put one another in the third position on their how-to-vote cards behind the Libertarian candidate Peter Angelico.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter Angelico is the Libertarian candidate for Nepean at the upcoming by-election. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)<\/p>\n

Mr Angelico, who was an active Liberal Party member for two decades, had called out Mr Marsh for claiming he oversaw a 72 per cent increase in road maintenance funding while on council. This was majority federal funding.<\/p>\n

He said the Liberal Party brand was beyond repair, but was realistic about his chances, saying if he got 10 per cent, he would be happy.<\/p>\n

The Nepean by-election<\/a> will be held on May 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Liberal Party’s candidate for the crucial Nepean by-election is being investigated by Victoria’s transport department for unauthorised…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":737579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[304616,4740,304617,184310,304614,50,80,304615],"class_list":{"0":"post-737578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-anthony-walsh","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-darren-hercus","11":"tag-jess-wilson","12":"tag-nepean-by-election","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-sam-groth"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116428210980402824","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}