Boorowa will head to the polls along with the rest of the nation on Saturday August 21 after Julia Gillard called an election just three weeks into her prime ministership.
Incumbent Hume MP Alby Shultz of the Liberal Party – who has held the seat since 1998 – will recontest the election against Labor’s Robin Saville and the Green’s Kevin Watchirs.
Mr Shultz holds the seat with a 5.4 per cent margin and is tipped to regain Hume with an increased margin of 1 per cent following the redistribution.
Mr Shultz said he welcomed the election announcement but said it was business as usual for him.
“I have an electorate that is larger than Belgium in size and has 229 villages and towns within it,” Mr Shultz said.
“I am constantly travelling within the electorate, speaking with people and businesses about the localised issues that affect them, so with the calling of the election, I am doing nothing different to what I do now on a day to day basis,” he said.
“The one thing that I can assure all voters in the Hume electorate is that I will continue being out there in the electorate vigorously representing my constituents.” Labor has not held the seat since 1974 and selected Mr Saville just last week, describing him as “the type of candidate that could dislodge the ageing Alby Schultz who has had 12 years and done so little for Goulburn or other communities in Hume”. Julia Gillard described Mr Saville as “an intelligent young family man committed to the local area and will make an excellent member for Hume”.
Mr Saville’s campaign director Roger Lucas said Robin wanted to make himself available to voters.
“Robin has hit the campaign trail running and intends to make himself available to everyone in Hume,” Mr Lucas said.
“He is already doorknocking and meeting small business people around the electorate.”
Robin lives in Goulburn with wife Jungia and their three children Tabitha 6, Frank 3 and Alice 3 months.
He has recently returned from a two year appointment in Korea where he lectured at Kyongpook National University.
The Greens have selected a secondary public school HSIE teacher in Mr Watchirs.
He said he sees the need for genuine initiatives by all levels of governments to create sustainable policies on waste management and water reticulation.
“It’s not viable for local councils to encourage recycling if there are no genuine markets for the recycled materials,” Mr Watchirs said.
“This is lip service to legislation and is not sustainable.
“Thousands of green jobs can be created by enacting on existing legislation and implementing environmental policies,” he said.
“We need to invest in clean renewable energy sources and the Australian government has a golden opportunity to show leadership in developing international strategies on climate change by introducing a price on carbon.”
Hume runs from Cowra in the north to Wee Jasper in the south, from Picton and Wilton in the south and Young and Cootamundra in the west. It also includes Boorowa, Crookwell, Goulburn, Grenfell, Harden and Yass.
The Liberal/ National coalition need to pick up 12 seats nationwide to regain government.
Electoral rolls have now closed and people who are enrolled but do not vote are risking penalty fines.
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