A long-standing Mitcham councillor has been selected as Labor’s candidate for the upcoming by-election in the safe Liberal seat of Davenport.
High school teacher Mark Ward has been pre-selected to contest the by-election on 31 January.
Ward was re-elected this year for his third term as Mitcham councillor. His experience includes a stint as deputy mayor.
He has campaigned for a re-routing of freight trains away from the Adelaide Hills – a popular issue in the southern suburban seat.
Ward, who lives in the seat, is a senior maths teacher at Urrbrae Agricultural High School and is on the board of Centennial Park cemetery.
The by-election follows the retirement of Liberal member Iain Evans, who has represented the seat for more than 20 years.
The seat is a Liberal stronghold that has never been in Labor hands.
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While Ward appears to be a solid local candidate, Labor faces an uphill battle to defeat endorsed Liberal candidate Sam Duluk, who stood unsuccessfully in the neighbouring seat of Fisher at the March 2014 state election.
Duluk, who works in the banking industry, also has an extensive head-start on the campaign, being preselected by the Liberals in October.
However, he will be a new face for local electors who have elected members of the Evans family for nearly three decades.
Iain’s father Stan held the seat for the Liberal Party and as an independent Liberal from 1985 until 1993, when the seat was won by Evans the younger.
At the March 2014 election, Iain Evans improved his primary vote, winning with 51% ahead of Labor on 28.6% and the Greens on 15.3%.
On a two-party preferred basis, Labor attracted a swing of 2.8%, but the Liberals still enjoyed a very comfortable margin of 58.1 to 41.9.
Labor has been emboldened by its strong showing in neighbouring Fisher, and can be expected to campaign heavily on the performance of the Federal Government.
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Premier Jay Weatherill declared this week that there would be no such thing as a safe Liberal seat if the Federal Government decided against building the next generation of submarines in Australia.
ALP state secretary Reggie Martin said the state executive had chosen Ward as the candidate after he had been endorsed by the local branch of the party.
“Mark has lived in the electorate of Davenport for 18 years and has been a local councillor for the past eight years,” he said.
“He and his wife Sharon live in Hawthorndene with their two daughters, Lauren, 14, and Alexandra, 12.
“A teacher and tutor of physics and maths since 1990, Mark is passionate about education and advocating for his community.”
Martin said Ward worked as Senior Leader of Numeracy/Mathematics at Urrbrae Agricultural High School.
He previously worked at the Flinders University Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century and a range of South Australian public schools.
He was the first president of the Blackwood Action Group and was a member of the Blackwood Primary School Governing Council.
“I am extremely pleased that a community advocate of Mark’s quality has chosen to stand for the Labor Party in this by-election,” Martin said.
Ward, who is teaching today, could not be contacted for an interview before deadline.
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