High-profile ag leaders nominate for Liberal pre-selection races in the electorates of Swan and Bullwinkel

Two agriculture stalwarts have thrown their hat in the ring of Federal politics by nominating for the Liberal party pre-selection race. Immediate past president for the WAFarmers grains section Mic Fels has nominated for the electorate of Swan, and well-known livestock veterinarian Holly Ludeman has nominated for the new seat of Bullwinkel. Mr Fels, who runs a family farming operation in Esperance, said “sheer frustration” caused by Labor Government policies had driven him to go into politics. “It’s a case of knowing there’s a problem, knowing what the solution is and knowing I should be putting my hand up,” he said. Mr Fels said his experience in leadership positions and 30 years of farming had prepared him for the political role. He said he chose to run in the pre-selection bid for the Swan electorate because of his personal love for the area, and also because it was a marginal seat. “I’m totally driven by the urge to fix things as I see as needing fixing,” Mr Fels said. “The political system needs fixing, (and) this Government is just a complete disaster.” Past Liberal MP Steve Irons held the electorate of Swan from 2007 to 2016, however, Labor candidate Tammy Solonec won the seat in 2016. Mr Irons retained the seat again in the 2019 election, before he retired from politics in 2022. Labor MP Zaneta Mascarenhas, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 2022, currently holds the electorate of Swan. Ms Ludeman, who is also the Livestock Collective director, has been a prominent campaigner for keeping the live sheep export trade by sea. The Countryman understands the Liberal pre-selection for Bullwinkel, which is in Perth’s outer-metro east, is likely to be a race between Ms Ludeman and Matt Moran, a former journalist and army veterinarian. Mr Moran previously failed to win pre-selection for Curtin, an electorate in the western suburbs, earlier in 2024. The pre-selection bids come as Federal Labor faces backlash from the agricultural community over the live sheep exports by sea phase-out, now legislated to take affect by mid-2028. In light of the looming ban, the Keep the Sheep campaign began ramping up political pressure and letter boxing seats such as Tangney and Hasluck in an effort to throw Labor out of government. The Coalition has vowed to reverse the live export ban if elected in the next Federal election.