No door-knocking and handshakes has left more than 2,100 hundred Victorian council candidates exploring other opportunities for gaining supporters.
Speaking to The ABC, Hume council candidate John Karagiannidis says hiring professionals to deliver campaign material is costing himself and other candidates “thousands”.
“The last election we had candidates standing outside the post office handing out leaflets,” said Mr Karagiannidis.
“I’ve engaged Australia Post to deliver outside of Sunbury.”
Letterboxing large parts of Jacksons Creek ward, in the Hume council area, is unfeasible under stage four restrictions and time limits.
With Jacksons Creek ward stretching over 283 square kilometres from Tullamarine in the south, letterboxing is simply unfeasible under stage four restrictions and time limits.
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According to The ABC, Karagiannidis is allowed to drop leaflets beyond the 5 kilometre radius of his home, but with two hour restrictions and a massive area to cover, the opportunities are limited.
In neighbouring Melton, first time candidate Deepti Alurkar has taken her campaign online, meeting constituents through video conferences.
“The campaign would have looked very different if it was not in this current scenario,” Ms Alurkar said.
“We are just trying to find ways and different ideas to overcome the challenges.
“For the first timer runners it’s ever harder to get their names out there.
“People who are already councillors, who are already in the positions, they definitely are having an advantage over someone who’s running the campaign for the first time.”
