Having a few swinging seats would benefit the Illawarra, but academic Greg Melleuish can't see that happening.
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The University of Wollongong associate professor and election expert did think it would give Labor a shock to be turfed out for a term or two in the Illawarra - but the region shouldn't hold its breath waiting for that to happen.
"It's the case in Australia that certain seats are in areas where they won't ever vote for the other side for a whole range of reasons," Prof Melleuish said.
"In [these] electorates people have to live with the fact that the people they vote for are never going to be elected in certain parts of the country."
He cited the example of Whitlam, held by Labor's Stephen Jones with a 10 per cent margin but where there were strong Liberal-voting areas.
"I would not like to live in the Southern Highlands, which really would be part of a blue ribbon Liberal seat," he said.
"The people up there, I wonder how they feel about being put in with people down in Shellharbour and so on. One could imagine there's a degree of frustration."
In the Illawarra, there is a view held by some that being a strong Labor base means getting ignored by both sides
The old argument from the voters is that the region is safe Labor heartland, so it doesn't get attention from either party.
That's an impression Prof Melleuish agreed with.
"If you look at the way Morrison has been operating, going from marginal electorate to marginal electorate - he's promising them things," he said.
"There's no need to promise to anything to a safe seat be at either way.
"From the point of view of getting things done by either political party, I don't think it's good. If you're safe they can take you for granted and if they don't have a hope of winning it, they can also take it for granted."
Labor's Whitlam MP Stephen Jones, who has held the seat since 2010, didn't buy the argument that safe seats lose out from both sides of politics.
"I treat the seat like I've won it by one vote - and if you do that you don't take the election for granted," Mr Jones said.
"The risk of taking it for granted, you see what's happening in the whole bunch of what was once considered blue-ribbon Liberal party seats in Wentworth, in Warringah in North Sydney, in Goldstein and Kooyong.
"They're under attack because the members aren't reflecting the views of the people who they represent. I hope that people think I do and I guess I'll find out in a few weeks' time."
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