As former Queenslander Jo Briskey vies for Labor’s safe seat of Maribyrnong this weekend, she faces claims she is a ‘blow-in’ who ‘parachuted’ into the inner-west electorate.

Briskey relocated from Brisbane after running unsuccessfully for its eastern suburbs’ seat of Bonner in 2019.

Her online platform mentions cost of living relief and advocating for working families. She has spoken positively about the diversity and inclusivity of the Maribyrnong area, and wanting to win the community’s trust.

Briskey did not respond to questions of which electorate she lives in or requests for an interview by deadline.

Melbourne resident Veronique Bergeron has voted in the electorate since 2010 and written number one next to Shorten’s name every time.

She said she doesn’t view Labor’s handover to Briskey as a smooth transition.

“I think the demographics have been changing a lot. Who says it’s not going to become a marginal seat now Shorten’s gone?” Ms Bergeron said.

Shorten represented the electorate from 2007 until his retirement in February this year. He has been a resident of the area since 1996.

During a doorstop interview with the Prime Minister and Shorten last year, Briskey was asked if she planned to move to the electorate. She responded that she loved the area, lived “just on the border” and spent a lot of time in the seat.

Most of Briskey’s Instagram posts before 2021 are geotagged from Queensland.

The division of Maribyrnong, including Essendon, Airport West, and Moonee Ponds, has been held by Labor since 1969.

According to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) the party has received more than 60% of the two-party-preferred vote since 2004, making it a safe seat.

Lifelong Maribyrnong resident, Pauline Ashton said that Briskey was a “blow-in” and that many community members supported Shorten, but not necessarily the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Ms Bergeron agreed, calling Shorten “a hard act to follow”.

“Being such a prominent person in Labor, you’d think he’d always be in Canberra,” she said.

“But we would bump into him all the time… at the fish and chip shop, at Dan Murphy’s, at the supermarket.”

Shorten announced his retirement in September last year and will be taking a position at the University of Canberra.

Two other candidates have been announced – Tim Beddoe of the Liberal Party, and James Williams for the Greens.

Beddoe did not respond to questions before deadline. There is limited information about him on the Liberal Party website. He states on his website that he is from a working-class background and supports small businesses.

He lists his hometown as Ascot Vale, firmly within the Maribyrnong electorate, on his Driver Database profile. This website contains statistics about his car racing hobby.

Greens candidate, Williams has lived in Moonee Ponds for the past 20 years and stated that his priorities included taxing high earners to increase social support.

Williams said that even though he didn’t expect to win the seat, he saw it as his duty to the community to run as a candidate.

“[Briskey’s] been parachuted in…” he said.

“I don’t think that will bode well with the locals. I’ll be out there speaking to people and saying, ‘You know that the ALP is taking your vote for granted?’”

According to the AEC, nine candidates contested the seat of Maribyrnong in the 2022 election, with Labor receiving 42% of the primary vote.  Only three candidates are standing in the upcoming election.

“I’m a very well-known, well-liked, and hardworking community member,” Williams said. “People vote for me because they know me.”

Since 2001, there has been a sharp decline in the number of safe seats nationwide.

This election, 54 out of 150 federal electorates are listed as safe seats on the AEC website.

The ALP has faced criticism in previous elections for their pre-selection of non-local candidates, including in the NSW seats of Fowler and Parramatta.

In the 2022 federal election, the division of Fowler was won by an independent after being held by Labor for nearly four decades.

This year’s ALP candidate for Fowler, Tu Le, spoke to The Guardian about losing the Labor safe seat. She said that Labor took the seat for granted.

“There’s obviously a lot of lessons to be learned here and I think all parties need to think twice about these decisions they make,” Le said.

With recent state elections in Queensland and Western Australia both recording a swing towards the Coalition, it remains to be seen if Labor can rely on its stronghold in Maribyrnong.

“Who knows? Maybe she’s very good. We’ll see,” Ms Bergeron said.