By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A FORMER Casey councillor and a problem-gambling activist are among a field of rivals contesting Liberal MP Jason Wood’s seat in the 2 July Federal Election.
Mr Wood holds La Trobe by a 4 per cent margin after winning the seat back from the ALP’s Laura Smyth in 2013.
The 562-square kilometre electorate – which includes Beaconsfield, Berwick, parts of Narre Warren, Narre Warren North and Narre Warren South as well as much of the Dandenongs – has largely been a Liberal stronghold since 1990.
Mr Wood, 47, a former member of Victoria Police counter-terrorism and organised crime units, had previously held the seat between 2004-’10.
He sits on the Federal joint standing committee on intelligence and security.
Mr Wood’s declared opponents in La Trobe include former Casey councillor Simon Curtis (ALP) – a teacher at Beaconsfield College and president of Berwick Football Club.
Tom Cummings, a former problem gambler who is standing on a gambling-reform platform, is representing The Greens.
In neighbouring Holt, MP Anthony Byrne holds his safe Labor seat by a 9 per cent margin.
His declared rivals are 21-year-old Liberal candidate James Matthias – who would be the youngest serving federal MP if elected – and Greens candidate Jack Tilton.
The seat includes suburbs Clyde, Cranbourne, Cranbourne East, Doveton, Endeavour Hills, Hallam, Hampton Park, Narre Warren, Narre Warren North and Narre Warren South.
Mr Byrne first won Holt at a 1999 by-election. His party has held the seat since 1980.
He is deputy chair of the Federal joint statutory committee for intelligence and security, and a former parliamentary secretary to PM Kevin Rudd and for trade.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt sits on an 11-per cent margin in the Flinders electorate, which includes Cranbourne South and Western Port towns such as Kooweerup.
The Liberal MP’s declared opponents include ALP candidate Carolyn Gleixner, The Greens’ Willisa Hogarth and Non-Custodial Parents Party’s John Zabaneh.
The seat has been held by the Liberal Party for 61 of the past 62 years.
