ODDS FAVOUR UPSET IN SEAT

LABOR is feeling buoyed about its chances of snatching South Barwon from the Liberals, as Darren Cheeseman surges to favouritism with at least one bookmaker.

Betting company Ladbrokes was last night listing the Labor candidate as a $1.80 favourite to win the seat, while Sportsbet had Mr Cheeseman and Liberal MP Andrew Katos at evens.

Mr Katos holds South Barwon on a slim 2.9 per cent margin.

While the Labor challenger said the contest was “too close to call”, he said he was feeling optimistic.

“I won’t be taking anything for granted at this election,” Mr Cheeseman said.

“I’ll be fighting for every single vote I can get and hopefully that’s enough to get Labor over the line.”

The Liberal Party has launched a robocall to voters in Torquay and Jan Juc, accusing Labor of misleading locals about its plan for the proposed housing development in Spring Creek.

Labor has said it wants the development scrapped, but will not make a final decision until it has undertaken community consultation.

Mr Cheeseman said the robocall was a “cynical desperate move” from the Liberals, while Mr Katos denied it was a sign his party was worried about the effect the issue could have on the outcome in the seat.

“It’s not a concern — it’s just there’s a lot of misinformation being spread by Labor,” he said.

“Their policy position is all over the place when it comes to Spring Creek. All they’ve promised to do is a review.

“When people promise a review, that generally means nothing will happen.”

Mr Katos said he was confident about retaining the seat, which he has held since the 2010 election.

“For four years, Labor has ignored the electorate. It’s only in the face of an election that they’re making commitments,” he said.

“We’ve put together a comprehensive list of commitments for the seat and I think people will see that.”

He also took a swipe at Mr Cheeseman’s term as the federal MP for Corangamite between 2007 and 2013.

“His time for Corangamite was underwhelming at best,” Mr Katos said.

“This is a person who knifed two sitting prime ministers.

“So how can the electorate have confidence in someone who is capable of doing that?”