Election 2025: Andrew Constance, Fiona Phillips fight for key federal electorate, Gilmore

It’s round two for Liberal’s Andrew Constance and Labor’s Fiona Phillips, as they battle for the title of Gilmore MP following 2022’s tightest federal race, with the battleground seat seemingly key to a majority government.

Labor’s Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips and Liberal candidate Andrew Constance will do battle in the key coastal seat for a second time.

With a razor-thin margin of just 0.2 per cent and a history of party swings, the NSW South Coast seat of Gilmore is shaping up as a key battleground this election, with Labor desperately fighting to keep a majority government.

Labor MP Fiona Phillips – who has held the seat since 2019 – won re-election in 2022 by just 373 votes out of 116,000 voters, beating former state minister Andrew Constance, who is having another crack after narrowly missing out.

Mr Constance, who held the state seat of Bega for two decades, said he was confident of a better result this election.

“Put aside the two-party-preferred votes, and we received more than 6000 votes than Fiona,” he said.

In 2022, Mr Constance secured 46,941 first-preference votes, to Mrs Phillips’ 40,175, representing a 12 per cent swing to the Liberals – the largest in Australia.

Andrew Constance said people wanted change. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“There’s clearly a want for change,” he said.

Despite a state ministerial portfolio spanning from treasurer to transport, the Liberal candidate said he would not accept any front bench positions, instead saying he would be the “minister for Gilmore” and focus on key issues, like infrastructure, healthcare and cost-of-living.

Political posters are appearing across Gilmore. Pictures: Tom McGann

“Families and business owners are struggling,” he said.

“Cost-of-living is crippling them.”

Nowra Deli on Kinghorne cafe owners Sara McGinnis and Zaid Forrester agreed, saying they had been forced to constantly raise prices in-line with increasing costs.

“People don’t like it, but we need to make money,” Ms McGinnis said.

Deli on Kinghorne co-owners Zaid Forrester and Sara McGinnis said cost-of-living was crippling. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Her head chef and co-owner, Mr Forrester, said costs were skyrocketing.

“Eggs are the worst,” he said. “They’ve had a massive jump and they’re not coming down. How are we supposed to run a cafe like this?”

Mr Forrester said cost-of-living would impact his vote this election, with Australian Forest Productions Association polling suggesting the seat was leaning toward Mr Constance.

The poll of 684 residents found 52.8 per cent of respondents saying they’d vote for the Liberal Party on a two-party preferred basis if the election was held tomorrow.

However, Mrs Phillips said she ignored polling and was focused on continuing her work.

Fiona Phillips has held Gilmore for Labor since 2019. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“I’m out in the community, talking to voters about what matters to them,” she said.

Mrs Phillips said she was proud of her work across the past two terms, delivering new healthcare services to the region, including Batemans Bay’s bulk billing Urgent Care Clinic, which has treated more than 11,000 patients since opening in December 2023.

“We’ve also brought Headspace to Kiama, which is extremely important,” she said, noting healthcare was a priority.

However, the federal member conceded cost-of-living pressures were “difficult”.

“It’s hard out there, there’s no denying that,” Mrs Phillips said.

“But I will keep doing my job and hopefully that will be enough.”

Voters will go to the polls on May 3.

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Originally published as Election 2025: Andrew Constance, Fiona Phillips fight for key federal electorate, Gilmore