THE Liberal Party is confident of its capacity to field a candidate in the marginal seat of Bendigo.
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But the Bendigo Advertiser understands the party has received a solitary application for pre-selection in the division since calling for prospective candidates earlier this month.
The Liberals will seek to finalise candidates in key regional seats, including Bendigo, next month.
La Trobe University honorary associate in politics Ian Tulloch said the Liberals had great difficulty attracting high-profile candidates in Bendigo East and Bendigo West ahead of the November state election.
“I imagine they are going to have just as much of a problem with the federal seat,” he said.
He expected the Liberal party would focus almost all its resources on the seats it currently held and could possibly lose.
“This is a very different election, this one,” Mr Tulloch said.
He said the Liberal party had to contend with a number of challenges, including having a relatively new Prime Minister, recent by-election results, and resignations.
“The focus is really on, I think at this stage, limiting the amount of damage that’s going to happen, especially in Queensland,” Mr Tulloch said.
Both the Nationals and the Greens also intend to contest the Division of Bendigo, which Labor’s Lisa Chesters has represented since 2013.
The National party took to social media on Tuesday morning to announce it was seeking nominations.
Gaelle Broad, the Nationals candidate who secured 15.93 per cent of first preferences for Bendigo East in the November state election, won’t be vying to become Member for Bendigo this year.
“In future I may consider running at the federal level,” she said.
“Being a candidate is a volunteer commitment, which demands a significant amount of time, energy and financial resources.”
She said the support she had received throughout her state election campaign was heartening.
“As a result I became aware of a number of local issues that warrant attention at both the state and federal level which continues to inspire my interest in politics.”
The Australian Greens has committed to run a candidate in every lower house seat in Australia.
“We're in the process of choosing a candidate for Bendigo, and look forward to announcing our successful candidate over the coming weeks,” a party spokesperson said.
The next federal election is expected to be in May.
Ms Chesters secured the seat with a two-party preferred result of 53.3 per cent in 2016, and 51.26 per cent in 2013.
“It’s a seat that’s always been marginal because the people in this electorate look at who the candidate is. They look at what the policies are. They look at whether they are going to be a strong voice for this region,” she said.
“I'm really proud to be the local member for Bendigo, and I'll continue to fight and be that strong voice”.
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Emma D'Agostino
Covering general news and Bendigo council.
Covering general news and Bendigo council.
