Lack of Libs an issue as election looms

IT may be too late for a Liberal candidate to influence the seat of Bendigo in the upcoming Federal election, according to politics expert Ian Tulloch.

Mr Tulloch, an honorary associate in politics at La Trobe University, said he expects the current Member for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, to hold her margin in the seat, if not improve on it.

“In the 2019 election Lisa Chesters received a five per cent swing to her, she’s got a nine per cent margin now,” he said.

“This Federal election could go down to the wire, not in Bendigo but at a national level.”

At time of writing, the Federal Liberal Party has not chosen a candidate to contest the seat at the upcoming election.

“In recent times the Liberals in Bendigo have had great difficulty getting a high profile, well-known candidate to stand at a Federal, or even a State level for that matter,” Mr Tulloch said.

“It puts them behind the eight ball and the campaign’s effectively begun already and if they don’t select a candidate within the next couple of weeks they’re miles behind.

“If they aren’t a high-profile, well-known person, they’ve got no chance in hell.”

Mr Tulloch said the COVID-19 pandemic has seen “tree-changers” make the move from Melbourne to the southern part of the electorate, around Castlemaine and Kyneton.

“I know from the last election in 2019, the highest Labor two-party preferred vote was in Castlemaine at nearly 80 per cent,” he said.

“As more and more of those people come to Castlemaine and the southern part of the electorate, that actually benefits Labor.

“A lot of those voters are Greens voters as well and 80 per cent of Greens preferences go to Labor so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Chesters actually improves her overall result compared to 2019.”

Last September, occupational therapist from Castlemaine, Dr Cate Sinclair, was announced as the Greens candidate for Bendigo.

It may still be too early to predict who will be leading the country, but Mr Tulloch said we can’t rule out a hung parliament.

With the Federal budget to be announced on 29 March, an election date of 21 May appears likely.