Nationals leader Shane Love confident in quantity of qualified individuals to contest Geraldton at election

Opposition Leader Shane Love is confident the seat of Geraldton has attracted ample interest from nominees in the preselection process for the State election 13 months away. As of FrIday, the only known nominee is former City of Greater Geraldton mayor Shane Van Styn. Mr Love is re-nominating for the Mid West seat, and said the party had seen “a fair bit of interest in the Geraldton seat”. “Mr Van Styn is not the only qualified person who has put their name forward. I’d be quite happy with any local champion who wants to come forward,” the Nationals WA leader said. “The area has grown to have more of a region wide focus . . . its going to be a seat which is different to before.”. Boundary changes have seen the electorate grow to now include the shires of Chapman Valley and Northampton, adding about 5000 voters to the seat. When quizzed on the Nationals likelihood of preselecting Mr Van Styn, Mr Love said the decision would be up to the party’s State Council. It’s understood the council will decide on the party’s Geraldton candidate next month. “They’ll make their decision based on the interrogation of the candidates,” he said. During an interview with the Geraldton Guardian last week, Mr Van Styn said “it’s a game where confidence matters. I don’t do anything with a lack of confidence.” The National Party was unable to confirm the number of nominations they had received during the intake period, which closed on Monday. Mr Van Styn referred to himself as a devout member of The National Party, having previously run for the Federal seat of Durack in 2013, against Melissa Price. He de-registered once he was elected as mayor of Greater Geraldton in 2015, but reinstated his membership in January this year. Mr Van Styn claims his tilt at State politics was nothing about ego or personal goals, rather it is a move he believes would benefit Geraldton and beyond. “Sometimes politics is about not focusing on the person, but focusing on what’s best for Geraldton. There are other people that come across as horrible and mean and strong, but that just makes them really effective, ” he said.