The election to form the next government of NSW will be held on March 23.
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That means as you read this there is just 32 days until that election.
There is just under five weeks for candidates to campaign in their electorates.
Despite this our region is still awaiting to hear who the Liberals will run in the key Illawarra seats of Keira and Shellharbour.
Word on the street is the Liberal candidates for Shellharbour and Keira will be announced this week.
Not only are those candidates faced with a short campaign timeframe, they’re also pushing the proverbial uphill.
As we know, history has shown the city of Wollongong to be a Labor stronghold.
Even those with strong public profiles have found the going tough in this region representing the Liberal party.
You would be hard pressed to find too many politicians with the local profile and history of John Dorahy who ran with the full, entire backing of the Liberals back in 2011.
Even he could not knock off a relative newcomer in Ryan Park.
Strong independents have also tried and failed.
The Liberals have announced a candidate for the seat of Wollongong, 28-year-old Zachary Fitzpatrick who will run against sitting member Paul Scully.
The Liberals stunned many last week by announcing, seemingly out of the blue, to build the long-awaited lifts at the Unanderra train station.
It was a strong play.
Yet it is hard pressed seeing the Liberals usurping the sitting Labor members in either Wollongong, Keira or Shellharbour.
By the same token, it’s hard pressed seeing the Labor Party doing any damage to the Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward in the seat of Kiama – a Liberal stronghold.
So weeks out from the NSW election it is hard to see where the change is going to come on the Illawarra political landscape.
The only thing which may have a large impact on that is if the broader landscape changes in terms of who holds the power in government.