VOTERS in Indi have been urged to ignore rhetoric and hold their nerve ahead of what will likely be a captivating battle for the seat at the next federal election.
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Executive director of the Ethics Centre in Sydney Dr Simon Longstaff has called on voters to consider and assess candidates on their performance, and to show courage in seeing their electorate and its communities as they are.
The advice from Dr Longstaff, who will speak at the annual Kerferd Oration this weekend, comes as two high-profile Nationals in the seat are split on whether that party should have a candidate in place.
Cathy McGowan wrestled Indi away from long-time Liberal member Sophie Mirabella at the 2013 poll, making Mrs Mirabella the only sitting Liberal to lose her seat.
But it will be a rematch when we next go to the polls, after Mrs Mirabella won the endorsement of the Libs at preselection on June 28.
Labor has selected Wodonga councillor Eric Kerr as its candidate but there is still no word from the National Party on who its candidate might be.
Don Chambers – the last National Party candidate to contest Indi 14 years ago – says the party needs to pull its finger out and get in the race now. That’s a view at odds with Marty Corboy’s, who is a likely contender for pre-selection and chairman of the Indi federal electorate council.
He is adamant there is no rush.
But with McGowan, Mirabella and Kerr already in the race, the campaign has effectively begun.
A rushed decision would be a mistake but some of the Nats will be getting nervy about the ground that they see is already being lost.
