By Alesha Capone
Western region MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins will contest the seat of Werribee in the November state election.
Dr Carling-Jenkins will leave the upper house of Parliament to run for the lower house seat of Werribee, which has been held by Treasurer Tim Pallas since 2014.
Dr Carling-Jenkins, who has spent four years serving as upper house western region MP, said she felt there needed to be “true competition” for the seat of Werribee, which has long been considered a safe Labor seat.
“I have grown to love the community of Werribee since opening up my office here almost four years ago,” Dr Carling-Jenkins said.
She said that in the lead-up to the November 24 election, she would focus on “prioritising the needs of Werribee which are often forgotten”.
Dr Carling-Jenkins said concerns often raised by constituents who contacted her office included a lack of police resources to cope with a growing population; the state government’s “limited vision” for schools, despite the high birthrate in Wyndham; and the specific infrastructure needs of the west.
“It is time for Werribee’s needs to be put front and centre – an independent member can do just that,” she said.
Dr Carling-Jenkins said she had a “vision” for Werribee’s CBD of a Yarraville-style precinct to be built outside an upgraded Werribee station.
Dr Carling-Jenkins was first elected to Parliament as a Democratic Labour Party member in the Western Metropolitan Region at the 2014 state election.
Last year, she resigned from the DLP to join the Australian Conservatives. Last month, she left the Australian Conservatives to become an independent.
