Batman hopeful stresses local knowledge MARY-ANNE Thomas says knowledge of her local area, rather than her gender, make her the best candidate for the Melbourne seat of Batman. Families Minister Jenny Macklin on Sunday endorsed local branch member Ms Thomas for the seat, which will be vacated by long-standing member Martin Ferguson at the September federal election. Ms Thomas said although she believes there should be more women in parliament her strength was her knowledge of the Batman electorate, having been a resident of Northcote for 15 years. I've lived here for 15 years. I've brought up my family here. "They want someone who has real life experience and they want someone who can take the party forward," she said. Someone who has got real energy and enthusiasm to really be part of a reforming Labor government. Ms Macklin said it was important that a woman was dominated for the seat. "I am very concerned that if a woman is not preselected for Batman, the ALP in Victoria will have only 27 per cent of candidates in held seats who are women," she said. This is well short of the 40 per cent required by the National Rules. Labor-aligned lobby group co-convenor Hutch Hussein also has been named as a Labor option for the seat, ABC online reports. The two women will face competition from Victorian Senator David Feeney, who announced his nomination for the lower house seat on Friday. On Saturday he avoided an intra-party contest with ACTU president Ged Kearney, who announced she would not be nominating for Labor preselection. He said Batman wasn't as safe a seat as it appeared "at first blush" and he believed his strong campaigning background meant he had much to offer the local Labor members. The Victorian ALP executive is expected to meet this week to decide on the process and timetable for the preselection. Finance Minister Penny Wong said it would be good to see a woman preselected for Batman but stopped short of endorsing a candidate.