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Many thought the Labor preselection contest for the Wollongong-based seat of Cunningham would be a one-horse race, but a new high-profile late starter has entered the line-up.

Misha Zelinsky, the assistant national secretary of the Australian Workers Union and a former criminal defence lawyer,will run against Alison Byrnes-Scully, staffer to the retiring sitting member Sharon Bird and partner to state MP Paul Scully.

Mr Zelinsky, a recent Fulbright scholar to the United States, has warned Australiais heading down the path of the US where he says home ownership is now out of reach for the average person.

"We don't want to head that way here, and the warning signs are there," he said.

"You look at housing prices, for example;housing prices have absolutely exploded in this country but wages haven't, job security hasn't.

"If you are a young person today trying to make it in the Illawarra, the quality of our schools is going down because we are cutting there, there's no apprenticeships, there's cuts to TAFE, university has become more expensive."

In a nod to aspirational voters being targeted by Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, Mr Zelinsky said people should not be poor if they worked hard.

"And that's something that is very dear to me."

It is unclear yet if other candidates will come forward before preselections close Monday, but whoever wins is likely to also win the seat currently held by Labor with a 13.3 per cent margin.

Meanwhile, former NSW transport ministerAndrew Constance has announced his Liberal Party preselection for the Shoalhaven and South Coast-based seat of Gilmore.

Making the announcement in front of the half-built Nowra Bridge, Mr Constance, dressed casually in a checked shirt, played the role of wanting not to be seen as a regular politician.

"What is important over the next few months is the way in which I prosecute the case (and) change politics in our region in a way that we bring back the unity," he said.

"And I think when people are struggling every day with their businesses, not being able to get staff, we have got seniors who are huddled in doors through fear of going down the local shops and contracting the virus."

Mr Constance is casting himself as a game-changer willing to stand up to anybody, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he has in the past on the bushfire issue.

"The last thing people are going to want is a mouthful of politics, they are not going to get it from me," he said.

"I could have walked from politics but I have chosen not to.

"I want to see an absolute change in the way in which politics works within this country and works within a regional level."

Mr Constance won preselection after the withdrawal of other candidates including Gilmore Federal Electoral Conference president Paul Ell.

Labor's Fiona Phillips holds the seat with a slim 2.6 per cent margin.

Read more from the original source:
Labor preselection in Cunningham heats up; Andrew Constance confirmed for Liberals in Gilmore - ABC News