Ross Lyman pointed to the poor showing of the Labor Party in Indi, with its candidate Nadia David, drawing eight per cent of the vote, as a reason for the incoming government to snub the seat.

"Labor lost ground in this seat," Mr Lyman said, noting the party secured 12 per cent in 2019.

"My view would be Labor is going to invest in marginal seats around the country that they won from the Liberal Party."

Ms David rejected that assessment.

"The Labor Party doesn't look at things like that," Ms David said.

"It's not about 'is this seat marginal or not?', that's the Liberal Party way because they pork barrel."

Ms David cited investment in rewiring the nation's power grid and support for manufacturing as triggers for jobs growth in Indi.

Mr Lyman's primary vote of 31 per cent was better than Liberal Sophie Mirabella's 27.6 when Independent Cathy McGowan secured a second term in 2016.

However, incumbent Independent Helen Haines' 40.96 soared past Ms McGowan's 34.76 as she landed a parliamentary encore.

"Helen is certainly known in the region, she is the sitting member and had that opportunity for three years and also been returned off the back of six years of Cathy McGowan, she's a known quantity," Mr Lyman said.

"One of the lessons is getting that name recognition for myself out there, it's difficult to achieve in four months."

IN OTHER NEWS:

The distribution centre manager admitted dislike for Prime Minister Scott Morrison hurt him, pointing to Labor volunteers on booths saying 'give Scomo the boot'.

"I think that would play into it, but I don't want to hide behind that," Mr Lyman said.

The former army commando is keen to be preselected to contest Indi at the next poll, saying on Sunday "the campaign for 2025 starts today".

"We see inflation going up around the world, we see interest rates most likely to continue to rise over the next three years," Mr Lyman said.

"The situation isn't going to get better at a macro level, so I consider the situation we're facing now will still be very similar in three years time.

"It will be interesting to see how far we've progressed with the (new Albury-Wodonga) hospital in three years time.

"Three years is actually a pretty short time when you consider what we're trying to achieve from a strategic point of view."

Mr Lyman won 15 booths but none were in Wangaratta or Wodonga.

His successes included Corryong, Cudgewa, Eskdale, Springhurst, Tallangatta and Whorouly.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: