By Parker Mckenzie
With less than three weeks until the Aston by-election, nominations closed and the ballot drawn, five candidates will have less than three weeks to win over locals on why they should represent the electorate in federal parliament.
The Liberal Party’s Roshena Campbell, Labor’s Mary Doyle, Fusion Party candidate Owen Miller, Angelica Di Camillo from the Greens and independent Maya Tesa will contest the by-election on Saturday 1 April, hoping to replace retiring member Alan Tudge.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said the AEC expects to have 30 polling booths open on election day.
“Already for the enrollment for the by-election, when it closed last night, is 10,331 citizens who will be eligible to vote,“ he said.
“That’s up 700 from the last election and represents 98 per cent enrollment.“
Ms Campbell and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who has visited the electorate three times since the by-election was announced, have attacked the government on funding for infrastructure projects in Knox since the by-election was announced.
Prime Minster Anthony Albanese’s argued that the funding cut from the Wellington Road duplication, and Napoleon Road and Dorset Road upgrades were only a small portion of the overall money required to deliver the projects, calling the funding “fake promises“ by Mr Tudge in the leadup to the 2022 federal election.
Mr Albanese was the shadow infrastructure minister at the time the funding was allocated by the former Coalition government.
While residents in the Aston electorate will be heading to the polls for the third time in less than a year, Mr Rogers said the electorate traditionally has a very high enrollment and a good turnout at elections.
“The cost of a by-election, which people often ask about, is hard to tell at this early stage but it’ll be broadly in line with the cost of other by-elections that have run which tend to bounce between two and four million dollars,“ he said.
“Early voting will be available from Monday 28 March and run for a two-week period leading up to polling day.“
Ms Doyle will also have the benefit from two of the three overlapping state electorates being held by Labor members, with Bayswater MP Jackson Taylor and Monbulk MP Daniela De Martino attending her campaign launch.
History isn’t on the Labor Party’s side however, with the last time the federal government won a seat from the opposition in a by-election being over 100 years ago in 1920.
More information about the by-election and the location of polling places can be found at aec.gov.au/aston
