By Derek Schlennstedt
Jason Wood will no longer represent the area he grew up in following the Australian Electoral Commission’s decision to redraw the electoral boundaries.
Under the new boundaries, adopted on Friday 13 July, the Casey electorate, represented by Liberal member Tony Smith, will shift further south-west and snap up La Trobe’s hills-based communities, effectively aligning Casey’s boundaries with the local government area of Yarra Ranges.
While La Trobe will lose major townships including Belgrave, Olinda, Kilsyth ,Upper Ferntree Gully, Menzies Creek and Sassafras, incumbent MP Jason Wood will gain Pakenham and nearby satellite towns.
Traditionally, Casey is a safe Liberal stronghold, while La Trobe is marginal, with Jason Wood claiming a narrow victory from Labor’s Simon Curtis in the 2016 election.
The redistribution was required to allow space for Victoria’s new seat, Fraser.
The La Trobe electorate is projected to have 116,587 voters by August next year, which exceeds the maximum number permitted by the Electoral Act.
Despite the changes, Mr Wood reassured residents that although they would no longer be voting for him, he would continue to campaign for a number of major projects that he wanted to see finished.
One of those projects was the widening and improvement of the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road.
“My parting gesture is regarding the Mount Dandong Tourist Road,” Mr Wood said.
“This is the last opportunity where you’ll ever see a federal government putting $20 million on the table to make something fantastic for local residents, making it safe for them to drive, and making it wider so local residents and cyclists can use it.
“Quite simply we just need commitment from the State Government for matching funding.”
In May 2016, the Federal Government committed $10 million towards upgrading the road and recently in a letter to for Monbulk MP James Merlino, the Federal Government specified that it would consider providing an additional funding of another $10 million – subject to a matching contribution from the State Government.
“We have so many cyclists using tourists using the road it’s becoming dangerous on weekends,” Mr Wood said.
Mr Merlino said that the work, which included assessing the entire length of Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, needed closer investigation.
“The works are likely to have significant environmental impacts and the community deserves to have its say and be aware of this before any decision is made to proceed or not,” he said.
Reflecting on 14 years of representing and campaigning in the electorate of La Trobe, Mr Wood said it was a magnificent place to work and he had no doubt that Mr Smith would continue to support the current hills projects.
