GILMORE
⭕ An intriguing battle looms in the NSW south coast seat, with former Labor Party president Warren Mundine dislodging Liberal candidate Grant Schultz following Prime Minister Scott Morrison's intervention. Schultz is running as an independent, hoping to capitalise on local anger with the messy preselection process. Former Nationals state minister Katrina Hodgkinson has joined the battle for the ultra-marginal seat. Labor's Fiona Phillips is aiming to win the seat for the party for the first time since 1996. Sitting Liberal Ann Sudmalis is quitting, citing bullying and intimidation from within her party as a key reason for her departure.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
EDEN-MONARO
⭕ Nationals candidate Sophie Wade will take on sitting Labor MP Mike Kelly and the Liberals' Fiona Kotvojs for the seat which broke its bellwether status for the first time in 34 years at the 2016 election. Kelly has a buffer of a little less than three per cent. The Nationals entering the race sets up a three-cornered contest for the first time since 1993, when the party could only muster seven per cent of the primary vote.
INDI
⭕ Retiring MP Cathy McGowan is attempting to pass the baton to Helen Haines an independent chosen by the Voices 4 Indi group. Standing in her way will be the Liberals' Steve Martin and the Nationals' Mark Byatt. Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie won't contest the seat, in northeastern Victoria, but her long period of indecision didn't go down well with many within the party. Labor's candidate is former Wodonga councillor Eric Kerr.
MALLEE
⭕ Andrew Broad's spectacular fall from grace following revelations of his extra-marital texts to a young woman on a "sugar daddy" website paved the way for a three-cornered contest in his rural Victorian seat. The Liberals' Serge Petrovich, who is based in Melbourne, will challenge Nationals candidate Anne Webster. Broad entered parliament in 2013 by defeating Liberal Chris Crewther, who entered parliament in a Melbourne seat in 2016, with a margin of 6.2 per cent. Tony Abbott's former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin ruled herself out, rebuffing urgings from Liberals to return to the electorate, which contains her hometown of Wycheproof.
Australian Associated Press
