Federal election 2019: Where Bennelong candidates John Alexander and Brian Owler live

One didn’t move to the electorate until last year and the other is an out-of-towner, but the Liberal and Labor candidates for the seat of Bennelong say where they live should not be a big deal.

Bennelong Liberal MP John Alexander with his designer partner Deborah Chadwick, who has expensive pads in North Bondi and Palm Beach.

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Bennelong MP John Alexander has brushed off questions on his personal life after being questioned on whether he had finally bought a property in the electorate which he has held since 2010.

Mr Alexander has long been under fire for living a 30km commute away from the seat, on the other side of Sydney Harbour, at his wealthy designer partner Deborah Chadwick’s pad in North Bondi.

The 67-year-old tennis great, whose high-profile Labor challenger Dr Brian Owler lives outside the electorate, said he had been sharing an apartment with his daughter, Georgia, in Epping over the past year.

“I’ve been there eight or nine months now and have only been (in North Bondi) for a handful of nights,” the Liberal MP said. “I’m an Epping resident.”

John Alexander with his partner, Deborah Chadwick, helping to pack bags of food at the North Ryde Community Centre during the Bennelong by-election in late 2017.

Mr Alexander, who was embroiled in the dual-citizenship fiasco in 2017, said he looked at buying an apartment in Epping about 18 months ago, “because I knew the market was going down”.

“I had three-quarters of the money in cash, but I couldn’t borrow 25 per cent from the bank,” he said. “They said ‘we are not lending in Epping’.”

John Alexander out the front of his electorate office in Epping town centre.

He said he had a “long-term” record of delivering for the Bennelong electorate before he beat Labor’s Maxine McKew in 2010, helping establish the popular Ryde Next Gen Leisure Centre.

“I had a lot of engagement here. And that’s why (former Prime Minister) John (Howard) first called me to ask if I’d be interesting in running here,” Mr Alexander, who reached a career-high world singles ranking of No.8 in 1975, said.

He took a swipe at Dr Owler, a resident of Wahroonga in the neighbouring electorate of Bradfield, over the neurosurgeon’s claim of being for the local community.

“I think it’s a bit rich when he’s got on his (campaign) banner saying ‘committed to our community’. What’s he meaning? Wahroonga?” Mr Alexander said.

Labor candidate for Bennelong, Dr Brian Owler.

Dr Owler, a former Australian Medical Association president, claimed that his place of residence was “not an issue at all”.

“People ask me where I live and I’m upfront with them,” the divorced father-of-three, whose partner is AMA NSW CEO Fiona Davies, said.

“What people want is an effective local member and someone who is going to have a strong voice in Canberra.”

AMA NSW CEO Fiona Davies.

Labor leader Bill Shorten with Dr Owler last month.

Bookies have Mr Alexander as a short-priced favourite to retain the seat. The TAB has him at $1.12, ahead of Dr Owler at $5.

The ALP has firmed into $1.15 to win government, ahead of the Coalition at $5.