In short:
Raja Reddy will contest Point Cook for the Liberals, completing the party’s lower house candidate line-up across Wyndham.
Liberals' Wyndham Lineup Locked In
Raja Reddy will make another run at state parliament, having been selected by the Liberals as their Point Cook candidate for November’s election.
Wyndham TV can confirm he has been chosen to take on Labor MP Mathew Hilakari.
While Reddy’s work will be cut out for him, doing battle with a formidable incumbent backed by a well-organised and coordinated party machine, Labor’s grip has shown signs of weakening.
Labor retained Point Cook in 2022 but suffered a significant swing against it, with its primary vote plunging 9.5 percentage points to just 40 per cent.
The two-party-preferred result also swung 4.4 percentage points towards the Liberals.
(Labor has controlled the western suburbs for decades. L-R: Williamstown MP Melissa Horne, Laverton MP Sarah Connolly and Point Cook MP Mathew Hilakari).
A Strong Showing Needed To Win Seat
However, the Liberals’ historically poor campaigning in the area and preferences from minor left-wing parties flowing to Labor are likely to remain hurdles, despite Jess Wilson leading most preferred premier polls.
The migration agent and small business owner also ran as the Liberal candidate for Laverton in the 2022 state election and for Wyndham City Council’s Featherbrook Ward in 2024.
With Point Cook decided, the Liberals now have all of their lower house candidates ready to fight Labor in Wyndham.
Reece Clark will contest the ultra-marginal seat of Werribee, Ghada Noune will line up for Laverton and Venkat Ram Upparlapalle has been chosen for Tarneit.
The party also recently appointed Melbourne’s deputy lord mayor, Roshena Campbell, to replace Moira Deeming as its first upper house candidate.
The electoral district of Point Cook covers the suburbs of Altona Meadows, Seabrook, Point Cook and Werribee South.
