Federal election battleground grows in Victoria as Labor fights for Casey

Labor is shifting campaign resources into the Yarra Ranges seat of Casey as they try to pick up seats nationwide to win the election — and it says the race is “neck-and-neck”.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Tony Smith represented the area for 21 years. Picture: Gary Ramage

The election battleground is expanding in Victoria, with Labor shifting campaign ­resources into the Yarra Ranges seat of Casey that has been in Liberal hands since 1984.

After Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese hit the hustings in Victoria on Wednesday, the Herald Sun can ­reveal Labor’s national campaign team believes the race in Casey is “neck-and-neck” in the wake of the retirement of veteran MP Tony Smith.

While the opposition’s primary target in Victoria is Chisholm, the state’s most marginal seat, Labor strategists believe Casey as well as Higgins could be potential gains as they try to pick up an extra eight seats to win the election.

But some within Victorian Labor are playing down the prospect of winning multiple seats in the state, after the party unsuccessfully launched a wider offensive during the 2019 campaign.

Labor candidate for Casey Bill Brindle says it will be ‘an incredibly close race’.

Labor’s Casey candidate Bill Brindle, a local small business owner who also ran three years ago, said he believed it would be an “incredibly close” race.

“We haven’t won the damn thing in 40 years, but I’ll be in there battling every day,” he told the Herald Sun.

Mr Smith, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, represented Casey for 21 years. He won the seat – which covers the state electorate held by Deputy Premier James Merlino — by 4.64 per cent in 2019 after Labor ­recorded a primary vote of 28.6 per cent.

This time, the opposition believes the emergence of ­Climate 200-backed independent candidate and former Sustainability Victoria chief Claire Ferres Miles could help Mr Brindle on preferences.

Liberal candidate Aaron Violi steered clear of questions about the Prime Minister’s reputation in Casey.

Liberal candidate for Casey Aaron Violi.

Mr Violi, who has worked in manufacturing and tech start-ups, said locals wanted him and the government to focus on “everyday challenges” like the cost of living.

“I’m asking for the support of the residents of Casey so that I can continue to deliver for them, much like Tony Smith has for the last 20 years,” he said.

Mr Brindle said the Labor leader was seen as a “very steady hand on the tiller” by ­locals who were “finding out about him more and more”.

Senior Liberal figures believe Corangamite in the state’s southwest is their best chance of gaining a seat in Victoria, while McEwen to Melbourne’s north is also receiving attention from the Coalition.

A Labor source said: “If they want to spend scarce resources in Corangamite and McEwen, then good luck to them.”