Farrer poised for a political shake-up

Milthorpe is expected to top the primary count, however if voters follow ‘how to vote’ cards, the preference deals between the Coalition and One Nation will tip the balance in Farley’s favour.

Polling suggests the Coalition candidates – Brad Robertson for The Nationals and Raissa Butkowski for the Liberals – will not be in the hunt.

As a result, it will be the first time since Farrer was established in 1949 that the seat has not been held by one of the Coalition partners.

The reason for this is quite simple.

Over the past 25 years of Liberal representation, the Farrer electorate has been a sacrificial lamb for a failing Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which started as an attempt to improve the environment but quickly morphed into a $13 billion taxpayer-funded campaign to win votes in South Australia and environmental votes in our capital cities.

Along the way, the past Member for Farrer was unable to bring about the change that many of her constituents were calling for, and she had Nationals’ support with its former leader committing, against all the evidence, to deliver the plan “in full and on time”.

It may be a long time before there is forgiveness for the water policy failure by Coalition governments who instigated this policy that has been disastrous for Farrer, but couldn’t bring themselves to acknowledge the mistakes.

Meanwhile, other issues were also not addressed to the satisfaction of constituents, including access to healthcare, cost of living pressure, regional infrastructure and general regional inequity.

While we will change the political representation at this by-election, making progress on any of the above issues will be an entirely different matter.

If we have Independent representation via Michelle Milthorpe, she will have the opportunity to talk with members from all sides of Parliament, but it will be difficult to achieve outcomes on the ground in the short two years before the next general election.

If, as expected, David Farley wins the seat for One Nation he will have a platform through its high profile leader, but is unlikely to get any traction with members of the Albanese Labor Government who have no time for Pauline Hanson and her party.

However, what we will have is a marginal seat at the next general election, scheduled for 2028.

The Pastoral Times is not endorsing either of the favoured candidates in this by-election.

We are encouraging residents to think carefully about their vote, including their preferences, and decide what they believe is in the best long-term interest of our region.

One thing is certain: We need strong representation and a renewed focus on the electorate, its constituency and our unique issues.

These must be prioritised over party politics.