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CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | Contact
The 2025 Federal Election hasn’t even been called yet, but both the Labor Government and Federal Opposition already seem to be fighting to stay relevant in a new and highly organised political landscape.
As the media fixates on the swinging outer-urban electorates, it seems the old battle of ‘Labor versus Liberal’ is the only type of campaign that Australian journos know how to report on.
With the Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour, Western Victoria and Sydney’s Upper North Shore all looking increasingly likely to elect Independent MPs at the next federal election, this would mean a quarter of Federal Parliament is made up of community-backed politicians who vote solely on the interests of their local electorates.
Some say this would be chaos. However, it has worked very well for the regional Queensland voters who elected Bob Katter MP as an Independent over 30 years ago, and the people of South Hobart who will only ever vote for Andrew Wilkie MP.
While the Australian political class do everything they can to neutralise these emerging threats with court orders and rushed legislation, it seems that the humble little brothers of the Liberal Party are by far the least prepared for the imminent wave of Independents.
Especially when they are facing challenges from two Independent candidates.
The Federal seat of Calare in Central West is now a three-horse race between returning Independent candidate Kate Hook, and two men who both came out of the National Party.
Once viewed as a safe Federal seat for the Nationals, the current local member Andrew Gee is also an independent after ditching the Nationals in 2023.
With a new Nationals candidate now fighting to snatch the seat back from Gee, it seems the way has been paved for the female underdog to become a real challenger.
The fact that Gee initially stood down from the Nationals over his Opposition to the party’s position on the Indigenous Voice should also give insight into the cultural fault lines emerging in the rich farming soil on the westernside of the Blue Mountains.
With the rapid puffer vestification of towns like Orange and Bathurst, and the recurring health issues emerging amongst voters as a result of cowboy mining operators in the region, it seems that just about anything can happen in this once safe rural seat which is now full of sustainable farmers, two major universities and droves of post-pandemic tree-changers.