The electorate of Narracan will have a new member of State parliament after the next election scheduled in 12 months.
Sitting Liberal member Gary Blackwood has announced he will step down at the November 2022 election.
Mr Blackwood, who has been the Member for Narracan since 2006, said his age – he’ll be 71 next year - and the opportunity for a new person to represent the electorate were his main reasons for his decision.
During his 16 years in parliament he has been in government for only one four-year term, from 2010 to 2014.
Nominations for pre-selection as the next Liberal candidate have opened and will close on November 12.
Mr Blackwood said he expected a Liberal Party pre-selection convention would be held soon after that date to decide on a candidate.
He said at least 60 per cent of delegates at the convention had to be from branches within Narracan.
The remainder would be from other electorates in the state and the party’s administration.
The Liberal party has held Narracan for all but eight years since its proclamation in 1967.
The Australian Labor Party’s Ian Maxfield served two terms from 1999 to 2006 before losing the seat to Mr Blackwood.
Mr Blackwood said he had been “fortunate to represent a great community and hoped he had done some good”.
He said the past two years had been difficult for people in Narracan, especially the small business operators, students unable to attend school and the wider community through social isolation and cancellation of activities.
A redistribution of state electorate boundaries that will come into effect at the next election notionally makes Narracan an even safer seat the Liberal-Nationals coalition.
The Moe area, that traditionally has had the strongest Labor vote in Narracan, will become part of the Morwell electorate.
Voters at Moe delivered more than twice the number of first preference votes to Labor than the Liberals at the last election in 2018.
But across the electorate Mr Blackwood was returned with an absolute majority after polling 51.72 per cent of first preferences.
The Victorian Electoral Commission’s initial review of boundaries this year that recommended Moe remain in Narracan received many strong objections.
In its final report the VEC said it was argued that Moe had been financially disadvantaged by being in a different electoral district different to the rest of Latrobe City.
To accommodate Moe in the Morwell electorate the Toongabbie, Yinnar and Boolarra areas have been transferred from the Morwell to Gippsland South.
Mr Blackwood said while the boundary alteration in Narracan looked to strengthen the coalition’s position he believed it was a “volatile electorate” with populations in towns stretching from Nar Nar Goon to Trafalgar continuing to grow significantly.