MARSHA Thomson the Labor candidate for the state seat of Footscray will be number one on the ballot paper.
Ms Thomson will be standing for the seat that has been vacated by retiring Labor MP Bruce Mildenhall.
Mr Mildenhall has held the seat since 1992, when he entered parliament in opposition to the then Liberal government.
The seat of Footscray covers Braybrook, Footscray, Footscray West, Kingsville, Maidstone, Maribyrnong, Seddon and Tottenham.
It also includes parts of Brooklyn, Sunshine as well as Yarraville.
The Liberals would need a 24.9 per cent swing to oust Labor from the seat.
Mr Mildenhall said that usually seats move “within about three or four per cent of the main swing but I just can’t see people embracing the Liberal Party here”.
He said Labor was not complacent and highlighted a number of benefits the community had received under the Labor Government.
He said that since Labor came to power it had increased funding to the Western Hospital by 94 per cent.
“You can never be complacent here, although it has been a strong Labor area, it has also had more of its fair share of difficult issues – everything from drugs, to trucks to swimming pools and ports,” he said.
“I guess because we seem to be an area that is subject to a lot of change.
“If there is a change occurring somewhere else we seem to feel the affect in Footscray.”
The number of Footscray voters has dropped by about 100 since the last election.
There are 37,293 voters in the Footscray District compared to 37,412 in 2002.
Independent Catherine Cumming is second on the ballot, followed by Liberal Cam Nation, the Greens Greg Ferrington, Family First’s Ron Berchy and Socialist Alliance candidate Margarita Windisch.
