Finally, the Liberal Party has settled on the candidate it will field in Gilmore for the federal election. The overwhelming support shown at the endorsement meeting for Milton businessman Grant Schultz (pictured) means voters will now have the opportunity to hear from both sides of politics in the lead-up to the May poll.
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Once the remaining formality, the NSW Liberal Party’s state executive signing off on the decision, is complete Mr Schultz will have a lot of catch-up to do. His main rival, Labor’s Fiona Phillips, has been campaigning relentlessly for more than a year while the Liberal Party has been in self-imposed stasis, brought on by the bitter factional conflict played out in the ranks of the federal parliamentary party.
For us voters, it will make a pleasant change to see both parties tell us what they intend to do for the region, to hear from the candidates what they intend to fight for on our behalf.
With Gilmore an ultra-marginal seat, voters will expect to see significant policy commitments that relate directly to the electorate. They will expect from candidates undertakings to fight for local communities on the South Coast, even if that means taking on their own party bosses. And they will expect both major parties to fight like crazy to win the seat.
Any assumptions that the seat is already lost or won should be dispensed with. What is apparent, if polling is any indication, is that the Liberal Party has better prospects with a new candidate.
The results of polling conducted in May and leaked to the South Coast Register indicate outgoing Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis was a drag on the Liberal vote.
While the survey showed on a two-party preferred basis the Liberal Party was in front of Labor 54 to 46 per cent, when it came to candidate choice the margin narrowed to 50.9 per cent to 49.1 per cent in Mrs Sudmalis’s favour, a significant sign of personal dissatisfaction with the retiring MP.
Of course, that poll was conducted well before the leadership turmoil engulfed the federal parliamentary party so doesn’t reflect the fallout from the coup that toppled then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. But it was over two weeks after the PM announced federal funding for the new bridge – a signature achievement of Mrs Sudmalis, which appeared to do her no favours.
Mr Schultz has a lot of work ahead to swing that sentiment around.
