The seat of Bennelong in Sydney, once held by former prime minister John Howard, is shaping up to be one of the tightest races in the country. The Labor MP who snatched the traditionally liberal electorate three years ago had his margin wiped out by the redrawing of boundaries.
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00:00Well, this is Lane Cove on Sydney's lower North Shore.
00:05It was teal country, part of the seat of North Sydney, held by independent Kylie Tink.
00:09But with that seat abolished as part of the redistribution, it now sits within Benelong.
00:14Benelong is held by Labor's Jerome Laxell, a former mayor of Ryde, who won it by just
00:201% in 2022.
00:23With the boundaries redrawn, Benelong is now notionally a Liberal seat, but with a wafer-thin
00:28margin of 0.04%, one of the tiniest in the country.
00:34Hosters of the Liberal candidate, Scott Young, cover a few shopfronts here in the Lane Cove
00:39arcade.
00:40But so far there's no sign of his incumbent opponent.
00:43Here's what some voters had to say earlier.
00:45I'm hoping the Liberals will get up.
00:47I believe, I believe Labor.
00:49Yeah.
00:50Well, I think the cost of living for younger people, not so much for myself, but I feel
00:55it's hard for them to buy something for housing and renting.
00:59And my grandson's going through that process at the moment.
01:02So I'm keeping an eye out for him.
01:04Not a reduction in tax, getting our budget back together.
01:08So I mean, it's, our deficit is enormous under a Labor government.
01:13It's just going to continue to blow out.
01:15Traditionally, this is a Liberal seat.
01:17It was held by John Howard for 33 years until he was ousted as PM and as an MP in 2007.
01:24He was replaced by Labor's Maxine McHugh, a former journalist who only managed to hold
01:29onto the seat for a single term for Labor.
01:33Former professional tennis player, John Alexander, reclaimed the seat for the Liberals in 2010
01:38and held onto it until his retirement in 2022.
01:41But it wasn't without some hiccups.
01:44He was one of a number of MPs disqualified from Parliament as he was a dual citizen,
01:49but ultimately survived a by-election in 2017.
01:53Now it's notable that the new boundaries are similar to those on which John Howard
01:56was elected in 1974.
01:59As one of the tightest contests in the country, Bennelong will be a seat to watch on May the 3rd.