Vol. No. Vol. 2418No. 4127
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Wednesday, January 13, 2022 2016 Wednesday, April 27,
WIMMERA ‘PUNKS’: Aaron Janetzki, Rachael Todman and Ella Officer were well into the swing of all things steampunk during an inaugural Wimmera Steampunk Festival in Dimboola. The street-party event attracted more than 2500 people. Story, more pictures, pages 10 and 11. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Preferences important C
BY MICHAEL SCALZO
onfirmation of a Labor candidate for the federal seat of Mallee has opened the door for a greater diversity in choice as voters ponder the approaching May 21 election.
But Labor 11th-hour nomination Carole Hart has conceded that voter preferences would be critical in budging Mallee voters from four decades of Nationals representation. Ms Hart, who represented Labor in the last election, said she was confident of attracting a sound depth in primary votes and appealed to voters to think clearly about where they placed their preferences. She said she made no assumption about how votes would fall in May,
but conceded a victory would require ‘a lot of voter preferences’. She said her how-to-vote cards would be important and voters should stay tuned for more information. A Labor win for the seat would be an election sensation. Ms Hart would require more than a 15 percent twoparty swing for victory. Ms Hart, who stood as a Mallee candidate in 2019, received 15.7 percent of primary votes at the previous federal election, behind opposed Nationals and Liberal Party candidates after the retirement of former seat holder and Nationals member Andrew Broad. She received nearly 3000 votes less than Liberal candidate Serge Petrovich and was more than 11,000 behind the current Member for Mallee, Nationals’ Dr Anne Webster.
Liberal and National preference agreements kept Ms Hart to 16.5 percent. While she said she was aware the broader Wimmera remained a proven Nationals hunting ground despite a substantial urban population in a services-dominated Horsham, Ms Hart said she would not prioritise an urbanvoter campaign. “Whether it is Horsham or Swan Hill, I believe people are very aware of what the issues are,” she said. “Farming communities and urban communities are affected by similar issues. For example, staff shortages, housing and education issues go across the whole region.” Ms Hart said she represented a variety of people across Mallee. “There is not one type of person I
represent. I represent all of community,” she said. However, she said the Wimmera would be ‘one of my focusses’. Ms Hart urged Wimmera and Mallee voters to consider key points of her candidacy. “I am running because I have a strong social-justice principle. As rural Australians we really get left behind,” she said. She said the first step to equalising an urban-rural divide was to ensure young people had an opportunity to source housing and education. “Housing is another major issue. I know people coming into our communities have no rental or purchase options. When I was a young person in Maryborough, if you wanted to do many things you had to move to Mel-
bourne. It can sometimes be the same case today – but fortunately we have some really good universities. But for many young people, that remains the case, that they need to move from rural to urban to find employment.” Ms Hart said she had deepened her knowledge of key policy issues after her 2019 candidacy and it was always her priority to stand for election in Mallee again in 2022. “My candidacy announcement wasn’t last-minute. It has always been a priority, but there was a process to go through. It is not like an independent who can just put up their hand and say yes. You have to go through a process and a local branch,” she said.
IN IN THIS ISSUE • Crisis accommodation plan • Quantong residents stand strong • and Football-netball action THIS ISSUE • Win for Murtoa childcare • Monthly AgLife • Football netball action AUDITED: 22,403 22,507 COPIES
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