LAWYER Sarah Wade will challenge incumbent MP Catherine King for the seat of Ballarat in this year’s federal election.
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Ms Wade won preselection at a Liberal Party convention held on Thursday night at Federation University.
“I am very happy, I am delighted to be working with Malcolm Turnbull’s team and I would like to extend my gratitude to the Liberal Party of Ballarat,” she said.
“I intend to put together a positive, grassroots campaign and work hard to speak with the people of Ballarat and listen to what matters to them.”
The only other person to put their hand up for the candidate spot was local farmer and mental health advocate Nick Shady.
Ms Wade is a local legal practitioner who runs her own small business called Employers Legal.
She said she believed her knowledge and background through her profession would play a big role in her campaign over the next few months.
“I have been here (in Ballarat) since August 2014 and I used to work throughout the electorate when I previously lived in Castlemaine for a period of time,” she said.
“A lot of the legal work I was doing was in this electorate so I know it quite well.”
She is the mother of two adult children.
Ms King held a 4.9 per cent margin on a two party preferred basis at the 2013 federal election following a huge 6.8 per cent swing against her.
Since Malcolm Turnbull took over leadership of the Coalition many are considering the Liberal Party a real chance to challenge for the seat of Ballarat as well as other Labor held regional seats.
So much so that Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger admitted the party wa moving resources to Ballarat away from some city seats previously considered at risk under Tony Abbott’s leadership.
The Administrative Committee of the Liberal Party’s Victorian Division was expected to meet quickly to endorse the local preselection result.
The Nationals have announced they will also field a candidate in the race following similar practices in other regional seats. The Greens have also already announced former Victorian election candidate Alice Barnes will contest the seat.