From claims of "junk science" to "harebrained ideas", the candidates less favoured to win the seat of Farrer took their chance to get a variety of ideas - some more well-received than others - out into the public.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Liberal Democrat Mark Ellis had the honour of receiving the most groans from the 100-person strong crowd at The Border Mail's election forum in Albury last night, when talking about the lack of female MPs in Canberra and a lack of female candidates in Farrer.
"There is no gender imbalance in Parliament, it's just a reflection of the members in various parties," he said.
"If more women would join parties and do the work, then they would feed into Parliament."
If more women would join parties and do the work, then they would feed into Parliament.
- Liberal Democrat candidate Mark Ellis
The question from Stuart Baker had originally be aimed at independent Kevin Mack, calling out his decision to previously run on an Albury Council election ticket without any women alongside him.
Mr Mack said the women he was going to run with had to pull out and "I do support gender balance, whether it's in the workforce or on a political ticket or in Parliament".
When it came to the issue of climate change, Liberal Sussan Ley, Labor's Kieran Drabsch and the Greens' Dean Moss all supported their parties' varied approaches to climate change and independent Kevin Mack said there needed to be better government policies to reduce emissions.
Mr Ellis again caused controversy when he claimed the climate change debate was "riddled by junk science".
"There's a 30-year history of exaggerated claims," he said. "You can't run a modern electricity grid or solar or wind, the safest and cleanest form of energy is nuclear."
Independent Brian Mills agreed saying there has always been climate change and "it will keep on going, it's not because of what humans are doing".
But the candidates were united in one cause: to see Ms Ley removed as Farrer's MP.
Their opening statements featured references to what they believed were failings during her past 18 years, including Drabsch's claim that "if we support the current member, we're supporting chaos, cuts and scandals".
Sustainable Australia candidate Ross Hamilton said he was concerned by the Coalition's plan to increase Albury-Wodonga's population to 375,000 when the region had low water storage and inadequate infrastructure.
"Real economic growth comes from the division of labour, technological change and filling the gaps in our economy based on need, rather than a harebrained number picked by a minister," he said.
"I'm in the race mostly due to my disappointment in the short-term thinking of the major parties over the past decade."
MORE FEDERAL POLITICS COVERAGE:
Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here