The eastern border of the electorate sits between Undera and Mooroopna.
Damien Hurrell of the Australian Labor Party, John Brownstein of the Australian Greens, Cameron Macpherson of the Family First Party, Katia Bish of the Freedom Party of Victoria, Glenys Leung of the Animal Justice Party and independent Andrea Otto have all thrown their hats into the ring, facing off against incumbent Peter Walsh from the National Party.
Voters will head to the polls on Saturday, November 26, with the order in which candidates will appear on the election ballot also locked in last week.
Mr Macpherson (Family First) will appear at the top, followed by Ms Bish (Freedom Party), Mr Hurrell (ALP), Ms Leung (Animal Justice Party), Mr Walsh (Nationals), Ms Otto (independent) and Mr Brownstein (Greens).
The six new candidates — none of whom ran in Murray Plains in the last election — will face a daunting task in trying to unseat Mr Walsh, who is vying for his sixth consecutive term in Victorian Parliament.
The state National leader was first elected as the Member for Swan Hill in 2002.
He became the Member for Murray Plains in 2014 after the electoral boundaries were redrawn.
The seven people in the running is an increase from the four candidates at the last election.
This will be the first time the Family First Party, the Freedom Party of Victoria and the Animal Justice Party have fielded candidates in Murray Plains.
Mr Walsh, who is also the deputy leader of the Opposition, comfortably won re-election in 2018 after collecting more than 60 per cent of first-preference votes.
The Labor Party had the second most first preference votes with 19.39 per cent.
Mr Hurrell is Labor’s candidate in this election, but Mr Walsh took a swipe at how long it took for the ALP’s candidate to be announced.
“I think particularly from the Labor Party, the party that wants to form government in Victoria, to wait until two and a half weeks out from the election to declare a candidate, I think is a total lack of respect to the people in the electorate,” Mr Walsh said.
“If they are the alternate government, they should have had a candidate in the field a lot sooner than this.
“You can’t fatten a pig on market day. Rushing around two months is not the way you win, particularly if you are the local member. It is what you do over four years that is important.”
Mr Walsh and the Coalition have campaigned on pledges to tackle cost of living, housing affordability and help support Victoria’s healthcare system — including a $60 million pledge for the next stage of construction at Swan Hill hospital, cutting prices on public transport and removing stamp duty for first-home buyers on properties of up to $1 million.
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