With the polical resignation of Julia Gillard before the election, the seat of Lalor in Melbourne' south-west is set to debut the political careers of two new major party candidates.
What is considered as Labor's fifth safest federal seat, Lalor has been won by the Labor Party at all but one election since 1948.
But as the region experiences the fastest growth in the country, Labor faces a tough contest at the polls.
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Abby Dinham reports:
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has held the seat of Lalor since 1998, and after losing the leadership of the Labor Party in June, she named former primary school principal Joanne Ryan as her preferred candidate to run in her place.
That choice was endorsed by the party in a pre-selection vote.
And while Ms Ryan says she's happy to serve under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the ousting of her predecessor is something she takes personally.
"Incredibly disappointed like most of us here and like many people across the country...Disappointed for her personally so it's difficult for me to be to separate the personal from the political in that sense."
The electorate encompasses the region from Point Cook, to Werribee South, including Wyndham whose massive population spike over the past decade is expected to exceed 430-thousand by 2030.
Ms Ryan says the key to keeping Lalor livable, is to strike a harmony between growth and infrastructure.
"At the most basic level making sure everybody knows how to access medical attention how to access education for their children, there's that balance of the development versus the infrastructure and getting the infrastructure in place before the development occurs is an enormous challenge for us locally."
A large proportion of Lalor's population was born overseas, and it's one of the most popular electorates in Australia for refugee settlement.
Ms Ryan says if Labor is re-elected, she will support her party's asylum seeker resettlement deal with Papua New Guinea, as long as it works.
"If the PNG solution delivers that double outcome, if it delivers what it was designed to do then yes I will support it."
Liberal candidate for Lalor Nihal Samara says the federal government has made a mess of asylum seeker policy.
"There has been over a period of time where Kevin Rudd has rolled back and tried to change a lot of policies and now he's trying to fix those policy issues that he in fact created, the issue here is about making sure people come to Australia in a safe manner."
Mr Samara - a lawyer from the western suburbs - says being from a Sri Lankan, French and Dutch background gives him an advantage in a culturally-diverse electorate like Lalor.
He says despite Labor having owned the seat for the past 44 years, its resident are ready for a change.
"Many many people have grown up in this area and have seen this are simply being ignored. It's been Kevin looking at Julia, Julia looking at Kevin, Labor is so involved in looking after themselves and ignoring the people in this area."
And judging by a brief survey of voters in the electorate, Mr Samara may be correct in his prediction of a swing away from Labor.
"The Labor government is basically incompetant.// I don't like the idea that Labor change the Prime Minister within four years.// I want the country to grow and you know and for the manufacuring and all these sectors I think the Liberal Party will do better."
Lalor relies on manufacturing and some heavy industries, with a large proportion of its population also employed in the retail and health care sectors.
Mr Samara says for Lalor to thrive there needs to be better services for the population.
"This whole area is the fastest growing area in all of Australia, and what we need to support that growth is critical infrastructure such as health and education, we need to improve the transport network as well and also just the cost of living."
The seat of Lalor has typically been held by prominent political figures.
All four Labor MPs who have won the seat have held ministerial office, including two Deputy Prime Ministers and a Prime Minister.
But the major parties' representatives in this election say they have no desire at this stage to compete for the top job.
"How ambitious are you with your political career? Are you number two? Ah no, I'm going to be the best local member.// For us it's about improving the local area, addressing the local issues, representing the local people and should I be successful in the upcoming week, look I'll certainly look to represent the local people here and also take their message to Canberra as well too."
