By Corey Everitt and Mikayla van Loon
Australia will go to the polls on 3 May, and local residents in La Trobe and Aston are starting to see a full list of candidates declared ahead of the election.
Liberal incumbent Jason Wood is in a strong position for re-election as he holds the seat of La Trobe by 8.7 per cent.
His main rival will be former Cardinia mayor Jeff Springfield who announced his candidacy with the Australian Labor Party. The only other candidates for the 3 May federal election as of 4 April are Family First’s Ron Malhotra, One Nation’s Leonardo Panetta and Trumpet of Patriots’ Greg Hardiman.
The state of play is different in the neighbouring seat of Aston, which is held by Labor’s Mary Doyle, who won the previously held Liberal seat in the 2023 by-election.
Aston is considered a marginal Labor seat with a 3.6 per cent hold.
As far as candidates go, there are six confirmed vying for the electorate, with the Liberals nominating Manny Cicchiello in an attempt to reclaim the outer eastern division which the party previously held from 1990 to 2022.
The Green’s have announced Reuben Steen, while Family First have put forward Craig Manners, Trumpet of Patriots have named Steve Desveaux and the Libertarian’s will see David Fawcett run.
An Independent, Andrew Williams, is also seeking nomination for Aston, but as an unendorsed candidate, he will require the backing of at least 100 electors to officially nominate himself.
Star Mail will provide updates as they develop.
