EIGHT candidates have put their hands up to run in the upcoming Dunkley by-election.
Women’s Spirit Project founder Jodie Belyea will contest the seat for Labor. Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy will seek to win it for the Liberals.
Alex Breskin is the Greens’ candidate. The Greens returned a strong first preference vote of more than 10 percent at the 2022 federal election, and their preferences may prove influential this time. Chrysten Abraham is running for the Libertarian Party, Heath McKenzie for the Australian Democrats, Bronwyn Currie for the Animal Justice Party, and Reem Yunis for the Victorian Socialists. After failed tilts for both Dunkley and the state seat of Frankston in 2022, conspiracy theorist Darren Bergwerf has chosen to run again as an independent.
The ballot paper positions were drawn in Carrum Downs last Friday. Conroy got the luck of the draw – his name will appear at the top of the ballot while Belyea will be at the bottom.
Early voting starts on 19 February, and postal vote applications close on 28 February. The by-election will take place on Saturday, 2 March.
Dunkley has been held by the Labor Party since 2019, but was a Liberal seat for more than 20 years before that. Peta Murphy won the seat for Labor in 2019, defeating first-term Liberal MP Chris Crewther. Liberal Bruce Billson was the member for Dunkley for 20 years before Crewther.
Murphy comfortably retained the seat at the 2022 federal election – the Liberals ran barrister and former Survivor contestant Sharn Coombes.
Murphy died of metastatic breast cancer in December 2023, which triggered the by-election. The election date was locked in after the Christmas break.
National attention is focused on the outcome of the by-election. The Albanese government won the Aston by-election in 2023, but has since been hurt by the defeat of the Voice referendum. The by-election will also serve as a test of Labor’s proposed changes to stage three tax cuts.
Despite a 6.3 percent margin in Labor’s favour, campaigners from both parties believe the seat is winnable. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton have both visited the electorate on multiple occasions to spruik their candidates and policies since the start of the year.
Labor candidate Jodie Belyea is the founder of the Women’s Spirit Project support group, and has also recently worked with MEGT. In the past she has worked in youth services, and has helped run programs for people living with disabilities. She has also run programs for Indigenous Australians.
During her first press conference, Belyea said she was supported by the late Peta Murphy and would “lean into her legacy”.
“You are going to see me campaigning on the cost of living, health and Medicare and affordable housing,” she said. “I am not a career politician. I am not interested in playing politics. What I am interested in is creating a community that works together through working with governments at all levels, with local businesses and community organisations, bringing the voice of the people from the ground to parliament in Canberra.”
Nathan Conroy has been Frankston’s mayor since 2021. The 31-year-old immigrated to Australia from Ireland aged 19. He says he worked his way up from washing dishes to managing businesses prior to his election to council in 2020.
Conroy said that the long-term future of the area encouraged him to put his hand up. “What I want to do is give people a sense of hope, a sense of a vision of what our community is going to look like in five to ten years time. I’m not into this divisive politics pitting people against each other – Labor, Liberal, or anything else. I just want to be a representative for my community, work extremely hard, listen to people from grassroots upwards and represent them in Canberra.
“I have a proven track record over the last three or four years that I’ve listened, I’ve turned up, I’ve done everything I can, and I will continue over the next three weeks to listen to people.
“We want to invest in the infrastructure that’s needed. We need to plan for the growth that’s coming and we need to make sure that things like health, education, child care, interest rates, and inflation are all under control.”
The Liberals have spent the last two weeks making big funding promises. It said it will spend $900 million extending the Frankston line to Baxter if it wins government. It has also promised $2 million towards upgrade works at Monterey Reserve.
On his last visit to Frankston Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the federal government would spend $1.5 million on the collection of cancer stage and recurrence data.