FREMANTLE’S latest federal Liberal candidate, Pierrette Kelly, says Labor MPs in the port city have been taking its constituents for granted for decades.

“The simple fact is that the people of Fremantle have been represented by a Labor member for over 70 years, and they have been taken for granted almost all of the way through,” she says.

Ms Kelly was unanimously endorsed on Saturday after the previous Liberal candidate Sherry Sufi resigned after the Herald discovered he’d been pushed out of a job working for Liberal MP Michael Sutherland after mocking his boss and his wife with misogynistic language at a party.

He’d already raised eyebrows for his arguments against gay marriage and indigenous issues, including rejecting that they be recognised in the constitution.

• Pierrette Kelly.

Ms Kelly says she supports the Recognition movement and a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.

“I support the legalisation of same-sex marriage in principle, but firmly believe that any policy change must be carefully considered and take into account the beliefs and views of religious and other minorities,” she says.

“I am also fully supportive of giving the Australian people a direct say on what is clearly an issue of personal conscience.”

Her major campaign platforms will be tackling drug-related crime, helping small business and delivering critical infrastructure.

Ms Kelly lives outside the electorate in Booragoon and has two daughters, aged 18 and 15.

“I also feel that it’s important to keep my family life closely tied to this community – my daughters undertook years of swimming lessons at State Swim, we love to go out in Fremantle and we’ve supported Phoenix Theatre in Hamilton Hill for some time,” she says.