The independent candidate for Indi yesterday said if elected, she would work with the government of the day to achieve the best outcome for the electorate, based on what residents tell her they want.

“I won’t be playing party politics,” she said.

“I won’t be having policies as such. I’ll wait to see who gets elected and work with the government of the day on what matters to Indi, and consult with people of Indi to make sure their voices are heard.”

Ms McGowan made the comments yesterday in Wodonga as she officially took her campaign on the road by launching her campaign van, in which she intends to visit as many communities in Indi as possible.

On her first day she visited Wodonga and La Trobe University, Beechworth and Wangaratta, speaking on issues identified so far by local residents: education, health, broadband, employment and the environment.

Ms McGowan would not be drawn on commenting on other political topics, such as the switch to an emissions trading scheme a year early.

“I haven’t actually got policy positions on those things yet and I certainly wouldn’t be releasing them now if I did,” she said.

“There’s no point in me having policy positions when the two parties haven’t worked out what they’re doing.

“So I’m not going to set myself up by saying something, because it will be different by the time the election comes around.”

Asked if this made it difficult for residents to know where she stood, Ms McGowan said: “What people are saying to me is that they want someone who’ll listen to them and ask what do the people of Indi need and what do they want their representative to say.”

She said the feedback so far was “fantastic”.

On education, she said there was already strong support from the schools in the area for the Gonski reforms and she would continue to push for improved funding, should the reforms not be passed before the election.