news, federal-politics

Freelance writer Mina Zaki has been pre-selected by the Liberal party to run for the seat of Canberra at the next federal election, completing the team that will appear on ballot papers in the ACT. Ms Zaki won the ballot over two others on Thursday night after a period of campaigning that included meeting with many local party members. Ms Zaki was born in Afghanistan and moved to Australia at the age of seven and lives in Deakin with her husband and three children. Ms Zaki moved to Canberra from Sydney with her family in 2016 after she fell in love with the city on a family holiday. "I said to my husband 'I could see us having a good life here'". Her husband had rejected a job offer in the capital a week before because he had assumed Ms Zaki wouldn't be keen on the move, but just three months later the family was living locally. While the new candidate has only been a party member since March this year, Ms Zaki said she has had a long involvement with the party - handing out how to vote cards for Philip Ruddock with her grandfather when she was just seven years old. Liberal senator Zed Seselja endorsed Ms Zaki, saying in a statement "the party has pre-selected Mina as an excellent candidate who will fight for the values and policy important to the electors of Canberra". The freelance writer is no stranger to the spotlight, having appeared in an SBS documentary Muslims Like Us earlier this year, and regularly writing for MamaMia and appearing on the Ben Fordham show on 2GB. Health and the cost of living are areas Ms Zaki will focus her campaign on, saying the issues affect the elderly, families and young people. While the Liberal party has faced backlash for its treatment of women in recent months, Ms Zaki said the coverage actually helped inspire her to put her hand up. "I am a woman, I am a Muslim, I am a migrant, and I have not received anything but overwhelming support from the party so I would like to change the narrative around the Liberal party, it's not what it seems." Ms Zaki will be taking on Alicia Payne for Labor and the Greens' Tim Hollo for the new seat, which includes Canberra's inner north and inner south suburbs. So far Ms Zaki is the only candidate from the inner south. The race has so far been cast as a Labor-Greens contest similar to those found in the inner suburbs of other cities, but Ms Zaki is committed to creating a three-cornered contest. "My main aim going into it will be to give the other two parties a challenge ... I will be out there going for every single vote," Ms Zaki said. The Liberal party has now completed its pre-selections for all seats in the lead up to the election. Public servant Ed Cocks will run in Bean, with IT worker and country music singer Leanne Castley to run in Fenner. Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance Zed Seselja will run again for the Senate, with former candidate Robert Gunning to run second on the Senate ticket.

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