Election day is just over three weeks away, but in most of the Illawarra you'd hardly know it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A few corflute signs have popped up in die-hard supporters' front yards and along the expressway, but chatting to people on the street the poll doesn't register.
"I didn't even know it was on," a Mount Warrigal woman said when asked about her election concerns.
But in the towns that bookend the region it's a different story, with residents well aware there's an election coming.
We will always be red and green. I have two little ones, and we want to bring them up in a nice, clean, friendly world.
- Nick Hazel
"They're here every weekend," Thirroul resident Laurel Hehir said, of the Labor and Liberal candidates vying to win the seat of Heathcote.
Ms Hehir she'd been approached several times by sitting Heathcote MP Lee Evans while walking along Lawrence Hargreaves Drive in recent weeks, and had also seen Labor's Maryanne Stuart chatting to residents.
Changes to electoral boundaries have shifted the Liberal-held electorate so it takes in the suburbs north from Bulli.
While Mr Evans won in 2019, the boundary shift into Wollongong's Labor heartland and away from the Liberal leaning Sutherland Shire means he now needs a 1.7 per cent swing towards him to hold on to the seat based on voting patterns from the last election.
In 2021, Mr Evans admitted he would have a challenge on his hands at this election, noting Keira MP Ryan Park - who has represented residents between Coledale and Bulli for most of the past decade had a strong personal vote.
However, he noted that his electorate boundaries had changed before and included the northern Illawarra in 2011.
"It's going to be a battle, but I'm up for it," he said.
Last year's federal election results tell a similar story of how the votes may fall, and also show a strong environmental vote coming from the affluent and climate conscious northern suburbs.
Of the 10 northern suburbs booths which fall into Heathcote, two were won by Greens on first preferences and one was won by the Liberals at the federal election.
Labor got the highest first preference vote in the remaining seven (and won all the booths on two-party preferences), showing that the traditional working class party still has strong support in the region.
Austinmer's Nick Hazel is one of the young professionals who have moved into the area to raise his family, and said his vote would lean red or green.
"I've been here about two years and there's been a real shift in the demographics, and a lot of the people I've met are either from the Inner West or from Eastern Suburbs so I wonder how much that will change things," he said.
"I definitely care about environmental issues, I've signed up to Electrify 2515, and we will always be red and green. I have two little ones, and we want to bring them up in a nice, clean, friendly world."
Neighbours Betty Wilson and Patricia Findlay were out shopping and attending medical appointments in Thirroul this week and said their vote deciding issues would be health, traffic, the cost of living, as well as some concerns about public safety and "louts".
Ms Wilson counts herself a swinging voter and said she would likely lean Liberal this time, while Ms Findlay said she couldn't vote anything but Labor.
"My dad would come back and bite me if if I didn't vote Labor," she said.
Ms Findlay said was relieved, as a Woonona resident, she would still be casting her vote for Labor's Ryan Park, and - with a Liberal candidate yet to be in the field in Keira - Ms Wilson agreed the popular opposition health spokesman could sway her.
"He is great, that Ryan Park," she said.
Mr Park's seat, and the other two that make up the bulk of the Illawarra Wollongong and Shellharbour remain very safe Labor areas at this election, despite some boundary shifts.
The Liberal Party is yet to announce any candidates in the three seats, with rumours there's simply no one putting up their hand, and the Greens party has also got a bod in each seat - so it will be interesting to see whether they'll have the same momentum as they did at the federal election.
Independent mayor Chris Homer is taking a tilt at state politics in the Shellharbour electorate. But whether he can repeat his council election success - where he knocked out a long-standing Labor mayor - against MP Anna Watson remains doubtful.
At the southern end of the Illawarra, the seat of Kiama is shaping up as one to watch on March 25.
And while internal polling from incumbent MP Gareth Ward's camp suggests the race may not be close, it will certainly be interesting.
Mr Ward is a former Liberal minister, who was stood down from his role and party when criminal charges relating to sexual and indecent assault - which he denies - were brought against him last year. His court case has been delayed several times and will be heard after the election, so he is running as an independent (albeit with Liberal blue branding).
Labor has had their candidate, Katelin McInerney - a Kiama local who is a former journalist and union director - in the field for months, and the Premier has promised that the Liberals will run and said in Janaury that the party planned to win the seat.
Who this candidate will be remains to be seen, but - combined with Mr Ward's popularity and the criminal charges - it could mean interesting things.
Stepping out onto Terralong Street, you don't have to go far to find support for Mr Ward.
In Saltwater cafe, which is next to his electoral office, Bomaderry couple Robert and Narelle Cochrane are big fans.
"I once wrote him a letter and where it said his name I crossed that out and wrote 'to the best politician in Australia',"Mr Cochrane said.
He said he didn't think Mr Ward's court case would dent his popularity, as voters across the electorate knew he would go in to fight for them and "get results on local issues".
But at the next cafe along - Central Perk, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dropped in last week - the sentiment seemed to be that Ms McInerney was gaining ground.
"She has got momentum, and I do see a lot of her out and about engaging with the community," Central Perk owner Cameron Thomas said.
"From what I hear, being here in the community, Gareth has got that long term confidence and security, but with Katelin she's offering a different voice which might prompt voters to go Labor."