A farmer, military man, and sport executive have thrown their hats in the ring to be endorsed as the Liberal candidate for the Labor-held Swan electorate.
A farmer, military man, and sport executive have thrown their hats in the ring to be endorsed as the Liberal candidate for the Labor-held Swan electorate.
The preselection of ex-Wildcats boss Nick Marvin, army veteran Matthew Evans, or prominent farmer Mic Fels will be put to a vote by Swan division Liberal members in late August.
Mr Fels is best known as an Esperance farmer and advocate, however he also owns property and runs an agtech business in the Swan electorate.
He runs the 15,000-acre Halcyon Downs grain farm, is a volunteer firefighter, and has long been an active member of WAFarmers.
In Perth, Mr Fels’ i-paddock business has developed three farm productivity apps and a feed drum for harvesters.
Nick Marvin worked as a chief executive across state basketball, hockey, and rugby, and now runs his own management consultancy firm.
Those roles have seen him work closely with Andrew Forrest and former Wildcats owner, the late Jack Bendat.
Mr Marvin is still a director of the Bendat Family Foundation.
He shared a close relationship with Mr Bendat, telling Business News in 2018 the pair had met two years after Mr Marvin moved to Perth, which led to his role with the Wildcats after Mr Bendat bought the team in 2007.
Ex-army analyst Matthew Evans was part of the Royal Australian Engineers and won several service medals, and has most recently held office roles with Mineral Resources and Roy Hill.
Mr Evans is a Gubbi Gubbi man who only discovered his heritage later in life due to the legacy of the Stolen Generation.
In a profile on Serving Country, Mr Evans said he had a desire to make a positive impact for Indigenous people and veterans.
Swan is a sprawling metropolitan electorate covering a mix of wealthy postcodes such as South Perth and Victoria Park, multicultural communities of Cannington and Belmont, and assets such as the Perth Airport, Curtin University, Perth Stadium and Welshpool industrial estate.
Easternmost areas of Swan will be absorbed by the proposed new Bullwinkel electorate at next year’s election, a move which will likely favour Labor as it removes a host of Liberal-leaning suburbs from the electorate.
The seat is held by Labor backbencher Zaneta Mascarenhas by a margin of 8.8 per cent.
Ms Mascarenhas won the seat from the Liberal Party in 2022.
Liberal Steven Irons had held the seat since 2007.
Swan’s most prominent member was former opposition leader Kim Beazley who held Swan for 16 years.
His daughter, Hannah Beazley, unsuccessfully contested the seat in 2019 prior to gaining the state seat of Victoria Park.
