By Max Davies
The Liberals’ bid for the new electorate of Kalkallo will be headed by Bikram Singh, whose campaign will focus on community welfare and securing stronger investment in the area.
A nature lover and a long-time resident of Melbourne’s north, Mr Singh lives in Wallan with his young family, with one of his two sons attending Wandong Primary School.
He has worked on a vegetable farm in Kinglake for about four years and helped to provide important food donations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Singh also stood as a candidate for council in the 2020 Mitchell Shire Council elections but was unsuccessful.
Mr Singh said the Kalkallo electorate, particularly its southern suburbs of Mickleham, Kalkallo and Craigieburn, was in an important stage in its development and felt it would be beneficial for the area to see significant investment to help shape its future.
“All areas always have room for improvement, but I feel new areas like Kalkallo always have the most opportunity to improve and change,” he said.
“For new areas it takes a lot more attention to get them up and going and I want to be able to help set Kalkallo up for a strong future with community hubs and facilities delivered in the coming years.”
The electorate of Kalkallo is a new electorate for this year’s state election, moving Wallan out of Yan Yean to join Beveridge, Kalkallo, Mickleham and Craigieburn along the Hume Highway.
Mr Singh said he was passionate about community welfare and was committed to improving and helping the community grow as the electorate continues to develop in the Mitchell Shire and Hume City.
“Really I want to improve on current community welfare in places like Wallan while the rest of the electorate grows,” he said.
“I’ve always thought that if I could see something that I could help with, I want to be able to help and improve things for communities, that’s important to me.”
Road improvement
Mr Singh said he would also work towards improving the poor quality of roads in the electorate and has welcomed the announcement that a Liberal-Nationals Coalition would implement a $10 billion commitment to road maintenance over 10 years.
An audit of all state-managed roads would also be conducted within six months of forming government.
“As a Wallan resident, I have concerns for the safety of the roads and I want to be able to improve on that, especially as Kalkallo is an area that’s still developing and growing,” he said.
“I’ve noticed there are a few roads in the area that need some serious attention, Old Sydney Road and Watson Street are particularly bad so the commitment will help families get to work and home safely.”