By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
MAYOR Geoff Ablett is among four Casey Councillors to nominate for Liberal party pre-selection ahead of November’s state election.
After another round of nominations which closed on Friday, the Victorian Division of the Liberal Party announced that Crs Ablett and Gary Rowe had thrown their hats into the ring for pre-selection in the seat of Cranbourne.
Deputy Mayor Amanda Stapledon, who ran as an Independent for Cranbourne in the 2010 state election, has also confirmed her nomination for the seat of Narre Warren North, while Cr Susan Serey confirmed her nomination for Narre Warren South.
The Narre Warren seats are currently held by Labor MPs Luke Donnellan and Judith Graley respectively.
This week Cr Wayne Smith said Cr Ablett should consider standing down from his role of mayor in the lead-up to the election if he is pre-selected for Cranbourne.
“I don’t believe he (Mayor Ablett) should be in a position where he’s compromised,” Cr Smith said.
“Geoff could be put in awkward position where he has to lobby the State Government on behalf of council when he also is being a candidate for the Liberal Party.
“Who knows whether that will happen or not, and how Geoff will handle it, but there’s definitely potential for it to happen.”
Last year Cr Smith also raised concerns about councillors in “top council leadership” also being parliamentary candidates.
Cr Smith said he was against candidates “using the leadership roles of mayor and deputy mayor to advantage their parliamentary election prospects.”
Mayor Ablett, who stood for Cranbourne in the 2010 state election, confirmed his 2014 nomination but Liberal Party rules restrict him from commenting further.
Cr Gary Rowe, who was Cranbourne MP from 1992 to 2002, said he would continue to serve on council if he was pre-selected and would only stand down from his current role if he was elected.
He said Cranbourne needed a “fresh face” and that the seat’s current Labor MP Jude Perera was “rarely seen” in the community.
Milroy Martyn and Ali Khan have also nominated for the Liberal Party in the seat of Narre Warren North, while Marlon La Brooy and Mark Plosnic have nominated for Narre Warren South.
Liberal pre-selection conventions for these seats will be held in the coming months.
