by Keith Anderson
A date for next year's Federal election is still speculation but two candidates for the Monash electorate are already well up and running on their campaigns.

Endorsed Liberal candidate Mary Aldred of Warragul and independent Deb Leonard from Phillip Island, who is supported by the Voices For Monash group, have been on the campaign trail for some time.
No other parties have endorsed candidates as yet, nor have any other independents stepped forward.
Ms Leonard officially launched her campaign at Phillip Island on Sunday in her second attempt to win Monash, formerly named McMillan from 1949 to 2019.
She also has opened a campaign hub at Leongatha that she attends a couple of days a week to listen to community members and collaborate with them on making decisions.
The hub is staffed by volunteers from 10am to 2pm on weekdays and on a visit to Warragul last week Ms Leonard had her eyes open for a potential site in the town for a similar hub.
In her first attempt to enter politics at the 2019 election for Monash Ms Leonard polled 10.72 per cent of the primary vote, finishing third of the eight candidates and trailing only those of the two major parties, the Liberals and Labor.
Ms Leonard is targeting a primary vote of at least 25 per cent at the upcoming election, a figure she believes could put her in second place and give her a strong chance to win the seat on preferences.
She believes it is no longer a "safe Liberal" seat with both major parties' votes falling at the previous election; the Liberal primary vote by 8.19 per cent to 37.79 per cent, and the ALP's from 29.9 per cent to 25.6 per cent.
It is a trend Ms Leonard said her talks with constituents indicated could continue.
Sitting Member for Monash Russell Broadbent has held the seat for the Liberal Party for 23 of the past 29 years, but since earlier this year has sat as an independent after resigning from the party when he lost endorsement for the next election to Ms Aldred.
Ms Leonard said her policies to take to the election would be shaped by what she heard from the community, through online surveys, meetings and from people visits her campaign hub.
Already, she said, she was hearing complaints about metropolitan areas being prioritised and rural and regional areas ignored.
Ms Leonard said opinion polls were showing a possibility of a minority government, an outcome that would enable independent members to push for common sense, integrity and greater transparency and accountability.
Independents' initiatives had got the anti-corruption commission established and forced governments to be more transparent in where money was allocated, she said.
Ms Leonard said the rising cost of living, the standard of roads -"your car has to be roadworthy but the roads aren't" - much needed community infrastructure and health issues are emerging were key areas people want addressed.
She also said government was too reliant on income tax and that other revenue options should be considered.
Over the next month Ms Leonard will be building the feedback she receives into a policy document to be published on her website.
She said independents in parliament were able to judge policies and actions on merit and which are evidence-based.
Rather than having to play party politics she believed as an independent she could do much to get the funding for the infrastructure and services the area needs, Ms Leonard said.