You can hardly walk down the street in Melbourne’s far-flung south-east lately without tripping over a state politician with an announcement to make.

Residents might consider taking action against this annoying influx of Spring Street types, but they have bigger things to worry about.

Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne's south-east this month to announce a new road. Credit:Paul Jeffers

After all, what's a couple more blow-ins, more or less, in a place like Cranbourne East, on headcount the fastest growing suburb in Australia in the 12 months ending June 2017. It added more than 7000 souls for a population rise of 27 per cent.

This part of town is ground zero, not just for Melbourne’s historic population explosion, but for just about every issue looming large in this years’ Victorian state election, and it's home to some of the marginal seats where the thing will be won and lost.