By Casey Neill
A Silvan mum, social worker and teacher has put her hand up for Evelyn.
Gail Ritchie is the Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate for the seat, she officially announced at an event in Mount Evelyn on Sunday 15 July.
She’ll run against Liberal candidate and Wandin mum Bridget Vallence after Liberal incumbent Christine Fyffe announced she would not contest the Saturday 24 November State Election.
Ms Ritchie said grew up in Gembrook and attended Monbulk College before going on to study social work and secondary teaching at Monash University.
“After completing my studies I returned to the hills area and we raised our children there,” she said.
She has three boys – twins aged 19 and a 22-year-old.
Ms Ritchie worked in the welfare field for about 30 years, and in teaching on and off.
“I did a lot of work with young people,” she said.
“I’ve got a passion for giving young people the best chance we can.
“I think getting young people involved in the community is really important.”
Her own children played football, swam and played basketball.
“I think that we’ve always tried to be involved in the community,” she said.
“This seemed like the next step.”
She said she’d learnt not to just stand back and think someone else would do it.
“I feel like I’ve been very privileged,” she said.
“I was the first one in my family to go to university.
“That was a really big change in my life.
“I think for a lot of young people out here it’s hard to get that.”
Ms Ritchie said she’d been pleased to see Box Hill TAFE open on the former Swinburne campus, but would continue to advocate for positive education outcomes in the region.
She also highlighted level crossing removals in Mooroolbark and Lilydale during the next term as a key project for the area.
She said engineering works for the project were underway and opportunity for community input was still to come.
The Evelyn electorate takes in Yering, Coldstream, Gruyere, Seville, Wandin North, Mount Evelyn and Lilydale.
Ms Fyffe received 53.53 per cent of the first preference votes at the 2014 election, ahead of ALP candidate Peter Harris’s 32.21 per cent.
