An adviser to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has become the second person to put his hat in the ring for Labor's preselection process for the seat of Canberra ahead of the next federal election.
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Jacob Ingram announced that he would run to represent Labor in the seat at a meeting of the Mt Ainslie branch of the party on Tuesday night.
Mr Ingram follows the announcement of greyhound lobbyist Kel Watt, who put his hand up just moments after former senator Katy Gallagher announced she would again seek to represent the territory in the upper house.
Mr Ingram is from the right faction of the party, and has built his campaign around addressing mental health issues, access to abortion in the ACT and banning political donations from big business and banks.
The 24 year old said he did not view his age as a barrier to representing the party at the next election, and defended his career as a political staffer.
"I think that age, as we can see in our curent crop of federal politicians, doesn't always equal competency, it doesn't always equal wisdom and it doesn't always mean that you'll be good at your job. So I think that my age is one of the great strengths I would bring to our parliament," Mr Ingram said.
"My staffing job for Andrew Barr has involved essentially being a community liasion so that's involved taking feedback from local residents and passing that onto government and making sure that's actioned, advising local residents on outcomes, taking their input, putting it into policy and fixing the issues that matter to local resients and that is very similar to what a local MP is doing every day. I think that's very relevant experience to being a member of parliament."
Asked to comment on Mr Ingram's ambitions for the seat of Canberra, Mr Barr said: "I will wait to see the full field of preselection candidates and hear how they propose to represent our city in the federal parliament before determining whether or not to endorse any candidate in the Labor preselection process".
The Australian Electorial Commission announced its final determination for the new boundaries of the ACT's federal electorates on Tuesday. Labor's Andrew Leigh will seek preselection for the seat of Fenner, and his colleague Gai Brodtmann will seek preselection for the seat of Bean, leaving Canberra without an incumbent from any party.
The Greens will make a concerted push for the inner-city seat of Canberra, which takes in the inner north and inner south of the city.
ACT Labor is set for contested preselections on two fronts, with former ACT senator Katy Gallagher indicating she will seek to return to the role now filled by David Smith, who also intends to run for the top of the Senate ticket. The party's preselection process is expected to take place in August.
