By Ewen McRae
Candidates for next month’s federal election have been finalised.
Candidates were last week unveiled for local seats Gorton and Ballarat, along with the order in which candidates will appear on the ballot at the May 18 election.
Gorton – which includes Melton, Toolern Vale, Burnside and parts of Diggers Rest – will field five candidates: Richard Turton (United Australia Party), Jarrod Bingham (Independent), Harkirat Singh (Greens), Brendan O’Connor (Labor) and Nathan Di Noia (Liberal). The seat is held by Mr O’Connor.
In the seat of Ballarat – which includes Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and Gordon – there will be seven candidates.
Incumbent Labor MP Catherine King will appear last on the ballot form, and will be up against Bryn Hills (Animal Justice Party), Peter Cozyn (UAP), Alex Graham (Independent), Nick Shady (Independent), Karen McAloon (Greens) and Tim Vo (Liberal).
Maribyrnong will have four candidates, with Sarwar Hasan (UAP), James Williams (Greens), Opposition Leader Bill Shorten (Labor), and Christine Stow (Liberal) fighting for the seat.
There will be six candidates in the seat of Lalor; Susan Jakobi (Australia First), Gayle Murphy (Liberal), Joanne Ryan (Labor), Jeffrey Edward Robinson (UAP), Jay Dessi (Greens) and Aijaz Moinuddin (Independent).
Victorian senate candidates were also announced last week.
Early voting started on April 29. For locations of early voting and election day centres visit: www.aec.gov.au
