Frankston Mayor Nathan Conroy to contest Dunkley for Liberals

Nathan Conroy’s preselection comes after Anthony Albanese travelled to Frankston on Thursday to announce charity founder Jodie Belyea as Labor’s candidate.

Frankston Mayor Nathan Conroy has been preselected to contest Dunkley for the Liberal Party. Picture: Frankston City Council

The Liberal Party has preselected a 31-year-old Frankston mayor who grew up in social housing in the Irish city of Cork to go head-to-head with local charity founder, former TAFE teacher and Labor candidate Jodie Belyea in the crucial Dunkley by-election.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton visited the outer southeastern Melbourne suburb on Sunday to announce Nathan Conroy’s candidacy, praising him as a “local champion” and young family man who is perfectly placed to fight for the people of Dunkley in Canberra.

In a preselection contest which was decided after just one round of voting by Liberal Party members on Sunday morning, Mr Conroy edged out former state MP for the local seat of Carrum Donna Hope (nee Bauer), who currently works for state MP Chris Crewther, and fellow Crewther staffer and former Carrum candidate Bec Buchanan.

The by-election was prompted by the tragic death from cancer in December of popular Labor MP Peta Murphy.

A date for the contest is yet to be set by Speaker Milton Dick, but it is not expected to be held before late February.

Asked how he would ensure the Liberal Party achieves a better result that it did in last April’s Aston by-election — which saw the party lose the outer eastern Melbourne seat held for 13 years by former cabinet Minister Alan Tudge with a 6.4 per cent swing to Labor’s Mary Doyle — Mr Dutton said this was a by-election where the people of Dunkley could “send a message” to Anthony Albanese.

“This is an opportunity for the people of Dunkley, Victorians, to send a very clear message to the Prime Minister that he’s not doing the right thing when it comes to their family budgets,” Mr Dutton said.

Anthony Albanese announces Jodie Belyea as Labor’s candidate for Dunkley at the Frankston Bowls Club on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

“This government came into power with a promise to reduce electricity prices by $275. In fact, the Prime Minister promised that on 97 occasions, and yet since then we know that power prices have gone up by 23 per cent, and under this government, workers are paying 27 per cent more in tax, and so the family budget just doesn’t add up.

“I think they’ll send a clear message that they want a local champion who will listen and work hard for them and represent their interests in Canberra, and that candidate is Nathan Conroy.”

The Opposition Leader said he intended to be campaigning in Dunkley “with bells on” between now and polling day.

Mr Conroy — who renounced his Irish citizenship last year — said he had spent most of his 12 years in Australia living in Dunkley with his wife, Steffie, who was born and raised in the local suburb of Carrum Downs.

“The cost of living crisis is real. People are actually choosing between bills and food,” the thrice-elected mayor said.

“When I grew up in social housing in the 90s, the struggle was real, then. It shouldn’t be the case now, and more and more, we see it.

“More and more people are becoming homeless because of this housing crisis, due to the cost of living crisis, created by the Labor government. So my job is as a community advocate. As a community representative, I want to hear from you, I want to listen to my community, the things that actually matter, and the things that matter to everyday Australians.”

Former state MP for Carrum and now Chris Crewther staffer Donna Hope (nee Bauer) was beaten by Mr Conroy in Sunday’s Dunkley Liberal preselection.

Visiting the Frankston Bowling Club in southeastern suburban Dunkley on Thursday, the Prime Minister said Ms Belyea had been recruited by Ms Murphy in the year before her death from breast cancer in December.

“I am very pleased (she) has accepted the challenge of being the candidate for Dunkley,” Mr Albanese said.

Ms Belyea is the founder of the Women’s Spirit Project, a not-for-profit organisation in Frankston that promotes women’s health and wellbeing.

Mr Albanese said he believed Ms Belyea would build on the “extraordinary legacy” that Ms Murphy left behind.

“It is very sad what happened with Peta. She leaves an extraordinary legacy though,” he said.

“No two people are the same. They do remind me of each other in that they are both fighters, they’re both strong advocates.”

Ms Belyea said she had “big shoes to fill” in carrying on Ms Murphy’s work as a strong local advocate.

“I’m not a career politician, I am not interested in politics,” she said.

“What I am interested in is creating a community that works together through working with governments at all levels.”

Historically an ultra-marginal seat, Dunkley was at times narrowly held by Liberal veteran Bruce Billson for 20 years until 2016, when Mr Crewther ­defeated Ms Murphy to hold the seat for the then Turnbull government with a two-party-preferred margin of just 1.43 per cent.

With some help from a redistribution which made the seat notionally Labor, Ms Murphy defeated Mr Crewther in 2019.

Her first term as an MP was rewarded in 2022 with a 3.53 per cent swing towards Labor — more than double the statewide swing of 1.69 per cent — ensuring the ALP enters the forthcoming by-election with a 6.27 per cent buffer.

Dunkley is centred on Frankston, but extends along the Mornington Peninsula to Mount Eliza, as well as taking in Seaford, Carrum Downs, Skye, Sandhurst and Langwarrin.