Price shock
Liberal Durack candidate Melissa Price won’t vote for herself in tomorrow’s election.
When selected as Liberal candidate six weeks ago, Ms Price could have changed her enrolment details from the Perth seat of Moore to Durack, but did not.
Moore encompasses suburbs including Hillarys, Heathridge and Clarkson.
Ms Price was formerly enrolled in Kalgoorlie where she unsuccessfully ran for the seat in the State election.
Ms Price said former Durack member Barry Haase had lived in Perth since 2010, when the seat of Durack was split from the former seat of Kalgoorlie.
She said Mr Haase had given her advice to live in Perth, and visit Durack population centres through Perth airport.
“It is almost impossible to live in the electorate and serve it, due to the tyranny of space,” she said.
“I have seen firsthand during this campaign that it’s incredibly difficult to service the electorate without flying from Perth.”
Ms Price couldn’t say where she would live if elected.
“I’m still going to investigate it – I’m not discarding living here, we’ll just have to wait and see where I can live, should I be elected for Durack,” she said.
Ms Price will presumably be voting for Liberal Moore candidate Ian Goodenough.
Nationals candidate Shane Van Styn was on the offensive.
“Whether Ms Price chooses to reside outside of Durack is entirely her choice,” he said.
“What I can proudly say is that I’m a long-term resident of Geraldton, have a strong understanding of regional issues affecting it, and plan to address them in Canberra with my Federal colleagues if elected.”
Labor candidate Daron Keogh said Ms Price being a “fly-in fly-out MP” would affect her ability to represent her potential constituents.
“Being a representative is more than throwing money at a campaign, more than making decisions – having on-the-ground experience is gold,” he said.
“History has shown the needs of the electorate have been taken for granted – now the Liberals are putting up a fly-in fly-out candidate.”
