The two women who went head-to-head to make Indi the most intriguing seat in federal politics in 2013 are set to spend the best part of this year doing it all again.
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A lot has changed since the last election: the carbon tax has been ditched, the government says the boats have been stopped and – for the first time since 1977 – the Liberal Party will go in as the challenger in Indi.
What hasn’t changed is the rivalry between Cathy McGowan and Sophie Mirabella.
The familiar sounds of disagreements between “the independent member” and “the former member”, as they often refer to each other, began months ago.
Mrs Mirabella never really disappeared from the public eye, so it was no surprise when she officially declared her desire for a comeback in May last year.
An analysis of votes from the 2013 election shows the Liberal candidate didn’t lose her traditional support in farming towns, but was overrun in the larger centres.
St James and Cudgewa, in particular, did not jump on the McGowan bandwagon, voting for Mrs Mirabella with two-candidate majorities of 72 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.
But the Liberal candidate told The Border Mail she did not see the last election figures as relevant this time around.
“I've been grateful for a lot of support around the region and traditionally supporting a lot of agricultural issues,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“I'm not sure the issues of the way people traditionally vote are so much of an issue anymore.”
The decision to not publicly reflect on 2013 was one of the few ideas where the candidates agreed.
Ms McGowan predictably had her best results in Indigo Valley heartland, including 70 per cent of the Beechworth vote and 64 per cent of the Yackandandah vote.
“I'm not looking at that at all,” she said.
“There's high level of recognition across the electorate.
“People know Sophie, people know me … I hope people will be making a decision on the policies.”
The Indi MP confirmed her campaign would again be conducted in her trademark orange, just not yet.
“I'm really proud of it, I'm really looking forward to donning the t-shirt,” Ms McGowan said.
“I won't be campaigning until we get that first session of parliament out the way.”
Mrs Mirabella, in full campaign mode, was more willing to fire a shot.
She said she expected the Labor Party to campaign for Ms McGowan and would align herself with the Nationals’ Marty Corboy, as the two parties do in the Coalition.
“That's how we are in government and that's how we’ll campaign,” she said.
