Should federal seat Melbourne Ports be renamed after Sir John Monash?

A CAULFIELD lawyer, mother and Liberal Party member is pushing for the federal seat of Melbourne Ports to be renamed after Sir John Monash.

Kate Ashmor's secret campaign

CAULFIELD lawyer, mother and Liberal Kate Ashmor wants to give the Melbourne Ports electorate a shake-up.

But while she is keeping mum about her rumoured federal ambitions, Ms Ashmor is pushing for the electorate to shed its “outdated, anachronistic” name.

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She wants it to be renamed after Sir John Monash, who she argues is one of the most prominent Victorian Jews to have made his mark within the current, and former, electorate boundaries.

“The more I learn about his contribution, the stronger I feel that he deserves permanent recognition at a Commonwealth level,” said Ms Ashmor, who is a Jew of Polish-German heritage.

“Now is the time, during the centenary of Anzac, to finally honour our electorate’s greatest citizen.”

Ms Ashmor — who has started a Change.org petition calling for the change — said while a council area and university were named after Monash, “the fact that he has not be honoured at a federal level is a travesty.”

“He was instrumental in the construction of the Shrine of Remembrance, located in the electorate,” Ms Ashmor said, adding that he helped build Princes Bridge and the St Kilda St Bridge in Elwood.

The proposal will be discussed at the Liberal State Council on March 28, where Ms Ashmor chairs the Liberal Party’s Melbourne Ports Electorate Conference.