Focus Wentworth: ‘Labor is in this race to win’

Savanna Peake knows she has a mighty battle on her hands. The 30-year-old former teacher was revealed as the Labor candidate for Wentworth only a matter of weeks before the election. She has had virtually no time to build a profile to match the two frontrunners in the seat – Allegra Spender, the small 'l' liberal independent, and Ro Knox, the Big 'L' Liberal from the party.

The conspicuous delay in her nomination fuelled speculation that the ALP has conceded the anti-conservative vote to Spender following her emphatic success in 2022, and that its goal is to draw progressive voters away from the Greens and channel Labor preferences to Spender to overcome the challenge from Knox. 

But Peake has other ideas, and insists she is not there just to make up the numbers. “I just want to be really clear that this is a serious contest,” she told The Jewish Independent.  

“Labor is in this race to win. Full stop. Wentworth deserves a strong progressive voice that delivers real change and not someone that just delivers words. I'm giving it everything I've got. We're in it to win it, and we're ready to deliver."

Peake may be a novice candidate but she knows a bit about campaigning, having helped run several campaigns for other candidates and issues – including Tanya Plibersek’s election campaign in 2022 and the Voice to Parliament in 2023.

“Our goal in Wentworth and across the country more broadly, is really clear. We're trying to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. We want to invest in public education. We want to strengthen Medicare. We want to fight for real climate action. Labor has a really proud track record of delivering, making life better for working people, standing up for equality, and making sure that no one's left behind.”