FORMER Singleton lad Michael Gibbons will be the Labor candidate for Upper Hunter. Mr Gibbons signed the paperwork at a meeting in Singleton on Thursday night. Mr Gibbons was born in Newcastle in 1986, Michael moved to Singleton with his family in 2000 and attended St Catherine’s Catholic College and later Singleton High School before moving back to Newcastle at the beginning of 2005 for family reasons. Mr Gibbons joined the Australian Labor Party in 2006 and is passionate about workers rights, social justice, and greater public investment in infrastructure and services. A lover of sport of many codes as well as playing association football, Mr Gibbons currently attends the University of Newcastle and is studying a Bachelor of Social Science whilst also working at a local Woolworths. He is committed to pushing the case for better representation, improvement and funding for the Upper Hunter region. Mr Gibbons is committed to improving the infrastructure and services for health, education , police, roads and public transport. Mr Gibbons supports a responsible, balanced approach to mining based on strong conditions of consent for mining developments. Mr Gibbons is likely to be the last candidate to put their name forward for the March 26 state election. Mr Gibbons joins four other men in the running for the seat of Upper Hunter. Current Upper Hunter MP and National George Souris was the first to announce his intention to seek re-election at the announcement of the election date. He was followed by Independent Tim Duddy, Greens Chris Parker and Christian Democratic party’s Fred Cowley who all announced their intention to run last month.