The prime minister visited governor-general David Hurley at Government House in Yarralumla to ask him to dissolve parliament and set the election date as May 21.

For many candidates vying for Victoria's largest federal division, the election process began months ago as candidates travelled across the region, visiting community groups and residents.

Nationals MP Anne Webster is the incumbent member for Mallee and will seek to hold the seat against new independents Sophie Baldwin and Claudia Haenel.

Ms Baldwin said her campaign for Mallee began back in 2021 and was pleased the election had been called.

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"We started talking to people across Mallee back in December so it's great to finally have an end date to work toward," she said.

Swan Hill's Stuart King will represent the United Australia Party, and Lake Boga's Chris Lahy will run for the Citizens' Party.

Mr King said the election announcement felt surreal but was happy to begin campaigning.

"I always knew it was coming, but to actually have the date makes the finish line visible and the remainder of campaign planning much easier to lock in," he said.

"I think it helps the general public as well as many people didn't even want to know anything about election policies or issues because there wasn't a date set."

The Stawell Times-News contacted the Labor and Liberal Parties regarding their candidate for Mallee but did not receive a reply in time for publication.

The Greens Party announced its intention to run a candidate; however, a spokesperson said the party was still in its preselection stages.

Swing against in 2019

At 81,962 square kilometres, Mallee is the largest division in Victoria, spanning from Maryborough in the south, Cohuna to the east, Edenhope to the west and Mildura to the north.

Before the 2019 election, Mallee was one of the safest Nationals seats in Australia and has not changed hands since its creation in 1949.

Incumbent member Anne Webster came to candidacy after former member Andrew Broad retired in 2018 amid the "sugar baby" scandal.

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While winning the election in 2019, the Nationals saw a 28.06 per cent swing against them in the first preference vote count.

Despite this, the National retained the seat with a 30,459 vote margin in the two-party-preferred vote count against Carole Hart's Labor campaign.

Meet the candidates

A total of five candidates have announced their intention to run for Mallee, three of whom were independents.

The Stawell Times-News has compiled a brief background on each candidate's professional and political history below.

Anne Webster

The incumbent, Dr Anne Webster, will again represent the Nationals in the seat of Mallee.

Originally from Mildura, Dr Webster first represented Mallee in the 2019 election after its former member Andrew Broad resigned amid the Hong Kong "sugar baby" scandal.

Dr Webster has a background in social work, founding Zoe Support, a social support organisation helping young mothers access education.

In her time in the lower house of parliament, Dr Webster has had an 86 per cent attendance rate, according to the open-source political monitoring platform They Vote For You.

In March 2021, Dr Webster made headlines after coming forward with her story about workplace harassment in parliament.

Sophie Baldwin

The former dairy farmer turned regional journalist Sophie Baldwin has announced her candidacy as an independent.

Ms Baldwin comes to the election with experience as an executive of Southern Riverina Irrigators, a lobby group representing 1800 Riverina farming families contributing to the local agricultural industry.

Ms Baldwin has begun campaigning for the seat of Mallee, meeting with communities around the Wimmera to discuss issues such as water management and childcare.

Claudia Haenel

Claudia Haenel was partway through a term as a councillor with Horsham Rural City Council when she announced her intention to nominate for the federal election as an independent.

Ms Haenel is a third-generation Wimmera resident and has a business and media background.

In January, a debate was stirred in council chambers on the legality of Cr Haenel not taking a leave of absence before beginning her campaign for the federal seat.

Cr Haenel has yet to declare a leave of absence from Horsham Council, unlike her United Australia counterpart Swan Hill councillor Stuart King.

Stuart King

Like Ms Haenel, Stuart King comes to the federal election race from the Swan Hill Council, representing the United Australia Party.

Born in Swan Hill, Mr King has a background in farming and small business and has worked with various volunteer organisations such as the CFA.

He has since taken a leave of absence from his position on Swan Hill Council to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

Chris Lahy

Chris Lahy, 54, from Lake Boga, will again run as the Citizens Party candidate for Mallee.

Mr Lahy has a background in dairy farming and is the primary carer for his family of five boys.

He said the party's key policy was the financial future of the Mallee and the country, in the form of the implementation of 'Glass-Steagall' legislation.

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