THE roll call of candidates at the Saturday 21 May federal election has been finalised for the two seats covering the Mornington Peninsula and parts of Frankston.
There are 10 candidates seeking election in Flinders, which covers most of the peninsula and has been held by retiring Liberal MP Greg Hunt for the past two decades.
In neighbouring Dunkley, held by Labor’s Peta Murphy since 2019, there are nine candidates.
Murphy defeated Liberal Chris Crewther, who held the seat for one term following a record term by former Liberal minister, Bruce Billson.
In November, Crewther will stand for the state seat of Mornington after winning a preselection battle against long term sitting Liberal, David Morris. Labor has yet to nominate a candidate.
There are two independent candidates in Flinders and one in Dunkley.
In Flinders, former Mornington Peninsula mayor Despi O’Connor – who remains a councillor although on leave for the election – is being supported by the Simon Holmes a Court-backed Climate 200 organisation.
Sarah Russell is the candidate for Voices of the Mornington Peninsula. O’Connor missed on being the Voices chosen candidate and announced she would stand just days before the group officially named its candidate.
The presence of the two on the ballot paper threatens to split the independent vote, with neither O’Connor or Russell agreeing to allocate preferences to each other.
In Dunkley, Murphy is second on the ballot with independent Darren Bergwerf drawing top spot.
Flinders candidates as they appear on the ballot paper:
- Alex Van Der End, United Australia Party
- Cindi Marr, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
- Christen Abraham, Liberal Democratic Party
- Zoe McKenzie, Liberal Party
- Jefferson Earl, Australian Federation Party
- Colin Lane, The Greens
- Sarah Russell, independent
- Surbhi Snowball, Labor Party
- Despi O’Connor, independent
- Pamela Engelander, Animal Justice Party
Dunkley candidates:
- Darren Bergwerf, independent
- Peta Murphy, Labor Party
- Damian Willis, Liberal Democratic Party
- Elizabeth Johnston, Animal Justice Party
- Liam O’Brien, The Greens
- Sharn Coombes, Liberal Party
- Scott Middlebrook, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
- Kathryn Woods, Australian Federation Party
- Adrian Kane Irvine, United Australia Party
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 26 April 2022
