Premier Denis Napthine’s electoral officer Nathan Anderson and Willaura farmer Louise Staley will vie for Liberal Party pre-selection in the seat of Ripon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But neither technically live in the electorate, with Mr Anderson based in Warrnambool and Ms Staley living on the Lowan side of the Ripon boundary in Willaura.
Both confirmed their nominations for retiring Labor member Joe Helper’s seat to The Courier yesterday.
Mr Anderson, a journalist, worked in radio and newspapers before entering his current role as Dr Napthine’s electorate officer seven years ago. It is his first bid for political pre-selection.
His competition, Ms Staley, is a farmer and company director in the health field.
She nominated for Ripon at the last election but Vic Dunn became the successful candidate.
Ms Staley’s current roles in the community include president of the Ararat Hospital board, director of the Grampians Medicare Local and director of the food and environment unit at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Ms Staley unsuccessfully contested Kevin Andrews’ Menzies seat in 2000 and also previously stood for preselection in Casey and Wannon.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party is remaining tight-lipped about who will replace Mr Helper when he retires at the November 29 election.
A spokesperson for the party said “a couple of nominations” had been received.
The Liberal Party’s administrative committee met last Friday to formally close their nominations and set pre-selection convention dates.
It is expected the Liberal candidate for Ripon will be announced in mid-March.
