Roshena Campbell, a barrister and Melbourne city councillor, has been selected as the Liberal candidate for the Aston byelection, an early test for the Albanese government and the Peter Dutton-led opposition.
With less than six weeks to polling day, the Liberals’ Victorian division opted for the admin committee to handpick its candidate to give it the best chance to retain the seat vacated by the retirement of former minister Alan Tudge.
Campbell won out over oncologist and Guardian columnist Ranjana Srivastava, former Victorian upper house MP Cathrine Burnett-Wake and former Knox City mayor Emanuele Cicchiello.
The selection delivers on the desire of Dutton for a female candidate to help renew the party after its election review called for a boost in women’s participation.
#Breaking: #Indian origin Councillor of the @cityofmelbourne #RoshenaCampbell is the Liberal candidate for the federal seat of #Aston byelection@DrAmitSarwal @SarahLGates1 @Pallavi_Aus @JasonWood_MP @PeterDutton_MP pic.twitter.com/1agSSWKb4J
— The Australia Today (@TheAusToday) February 21, 2023
It sets up a contest with Labor’s candidate, former union and super fund employee Mary Doyle, who slashed Tudge’s margin from 10.1% to 2.8% in the May 2022 election.
Located in the outer eastern suburbs, Aston is one of just three seats held by the Liberals in metropolitan Melbourne.
On Monday the speaker of the lower house, Milton Dick, announced that polling day will be 1 April with nominations to close on 9 March.
Victorian Liberal sources conceded the date rendered it “impossible” to proceed with a full ballot of local members to select a candidate, as it would have given Labor a “headstart”.
Campbell was backed by former treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the Aston electorate conference secretary, Michael Gilmore, while Srivastava received endorsements from former health minister Greg Hunt and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett.
Campbell does not live in the electorate, a potential electoral drawback, but has said if she were successful, she would move into it.
With a higher-than average proportion of its residents living with a mortgage rather than renting, Aston is ripe for a Liberal cost-of-living campaign centred on nine consecutive interest rate hikes.
But Labor is also a chance, due to the unpopularity of Dutton in Victoria and the loss of Tudge’s personal vote.
On Monday Dutton said that he would “very much like – in a democratic process that we have in the Liberal party – for a female candidate to be selected in Aston”.
“I think the people of Aston are worried about the fact that five significant infrastructure projects have been cut in Aston,” Dutton said in Perth.
“It was one of the government’s first decisions. There is a lot of cost of living pressure on those families in that local community, and I think people … are really worried about how they’re going to continue to pay their bills under an Albanese government.”
On Friday Anthony Albanese travelled to Aston to spruik Doyle’s candidacy, describing her as a “great candidate” who “would make an outstanding member of parliament”.
“She is someone who’s also had real world experience with the health system,” he told ABC Radio. “Mary got breast cancer when she was just 25.
“And going through that treatment and recovery has meant that she is a passionate advocate of Medicare.”
But Albanese played down Labor’s chances, saying it would be “a pretty tough ask to win a position from government during a byelection”, noting this had not been done for 100 years.
Dutton has also claimed underdog status for the Liberal party, despite saying in January that the opposition was at a “low watermark” and looking to pick up seats in Victoria.
