The Liberal Party is yet to decide whether to re-endorse Oatley MP Mark Coure for the March, 2019, state election.
A preselection battle is being waged internally, with a challenge by Georges River councillor Rita Kastanias not expected to be finalised until August this year.
Labor’s newly endorsed candidate Lucy Mannering is capitalising on the Liberal rift by visiting shopping strips in the electorate with Opposition Leader Luke Foley.
Mr Foley said Ms Mannering was “someone committed to her community”, which would suffer as a result of the government’s stadiums policy.
“Under Labor, [Oatley voters] will have a champion in Lucy fighting for better schools and hospitals in the area,” he said.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Sports Minister Stuart Ayres announced in March the government would rebuild Allianz at Moore Park and refurbish ANZ at Homebush at a cost of $1.5 billion.
Ms Mannering, a lawyer who was previously married to former AWU boss Paul Howes, was chosen to contest Oatley after narrowly losing to Chris Gambian in a preselection contest for the federal seat of Banks.
“I’m the third generation of my family to live in the Oatley area,” she said.
“It is in my blood, and I will fight for a better deal for my community.”
Mr Coure won Oatley with a margin of 0.5 per cent from Labor’s Kevin Greene, who is now mayor of Georges River, in 2011.
A redistribution before the 2015 election increased the notional margin to 3.5 per cent, but Mr Coure improved that to 6.5 per cent.
