Groom votes: Toowoomba candidates meet with voters as campaign reaches last two weeks to May 3 federal election
An unprecedented number of Groom residents might be voting before May 3, as more candidate pledges flow in. Here’s the latest from the campaign trail:
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The federal election campaign in Groom is reaching the home stretch, and candidates have been busy making a flurry of pitches, promises and pledges as voters get ready to hit the polls.
It comes as early voting started across Toowoomba this week, with large numbers expected at up to five pre-polling stations.
Stories, including campaign announcements, key moments and other issues, will be added to this story.
Here is a wrap of what we’ve learnt so far:
Huge turnout of early voting
Nearly one in 10 Groom voters have already locked in their ballots, following an extraordinary turnout at prepolling across Toowoomba’s four current early voting centres.
According to the Australian Electoral Commission, more than 11,400 votes out of Groom’s 118,700 enrolments have been cast across just three days this week.
The largest was the Harristown booth, which saw 1200 people cast their ballots across the three days.
On top of that, more than 22,000 people have requested a postal vote for Groom, with 971 returned so far.
The Highfields prepolling centre will open on Saturday, so assuming it processes about 1000 ballots daily for its six-day run, it means on current trends more than half of the electorate (53 per cent) might have voted before May 3.
It reflects major national trends towards early voting, essentially shortening the five-week campaign to just three.
Holt pledges changes to veterans benefits scheme
Independent Suzie Holt has revealed she will fight to fix what defence force veterans say are outdated elements of federal government scheme that is reportedly costing some participants thousands of dollars in retirement.
The Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Scheme, established in 1972 and closed in 1991, pays out a lump sum to retiring members of the Australian Defence Force upon retirement and an indexed pension that is based on their salary at the time.
Veterans repay the scheme in time through a reduction in that pension.
As many as 2000 veterans in Groom are impacted by the scheme, and Ms Holt said a number of locals told her the scheme was based on actuarial calculations from 1960, when the life expectancy of veterans was much shorter.
“The issue here is that veterans are having to continue to pay off something that they have finished paying off, in some cases many years ago,” she said.
“In the case of one of the veterans who brought this to my attention, he has paid an extra $40,000 after completing the payback of the original debt.
“He is seeking an amendment that sets a date when this unfair system will be fixed so that he and other veterans will no longer be required to continue paying back an already paid off debt.
“When elected, I will have amendments drafted to address this problem.”
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs website, 2019 reviews of the DFRDB found that changes to life expectancy factors would have undesirable side effects for other parts of the scheme.
“Changes to the life expectancy tables could leave most members worse off, as the other key element of the scheme, the commutation factor, would also need to be updated and this would likely affect the pension amount an individual receives,” the website said.
Hamilton tight-lipped on technical colleges promise
Incumbent Groom MP Garth Hamilton believes the Coalition’s election pledge of a network of technical colleges will fix deficiencies in the construction sector — but refused to indicate if one would be built here.
Mr Hamilton said the resurrection of the concept, which was first established under John Howard and mothballed by Kevin Rudd, would deliver more apprentices than state-run TAFEs.
“Both sides identify the challenge that we have around just getting the right people to come through and when we see the completion rates staying quite low (at TAFE), it’s a challenge for us,” he said on Wednesday.
“We put this option forward, I think what it strongly identifies is our need to provide that high skilled labour that is crucial across Australia right now.”
However, Mr Hamilton wouldn’t commit to whether Toowoomba would be one of the 12 locations getting one of the colleges.
“Look, we’ll be talking more about that coming into the second week of the election campaign and what that means for us locally,” he said.
Holt accused of ‘rewriting history’ on Voice
Independent Suzie Holt says she didn’t mislead voters on her position of the 2023 Indigenous Voice to Parliament campaign, after she appeared to be caught in contrary positions on the issue and her involvement.
When asked in an interview with Toowoomba Forward over her position at the time, Ms Holt said she didn’t participate in the referendum and declined to give her position.
But various social media posts unearthed by her opponent and incumbent Groom MP Garth Hamilton showed her supporting the Yes campaign.
Groom voted overwhelmingly against enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament in the constitution, along with the rest of the state and the nation.
When asked by News Corp, Ms Holt said she played no active role in the Yes campaign and pointed to her appearance at a forum organised by Mr Hamilton featuring noted No advocate Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
“I’m going to just share with you that actually I remained very neutral during the time of the campaign — I was very clear that I felt the whole process had been divisive,” she said.
“I attended the Jacinta Price event and one event around the multicultural event to actually get a really good perspective.
“I listened to the community, and the community very clearly has said no and they didn’t feel that what they put forward at the time was the right path forward.”
But in a stinging rebuke, Mr Hamilton said Ms Holt had tried to “rewrite history”.
“This is someone who I know, reached out to (Liberal MP and Yes advocate) Julian Leeser via a letter and tried to invite him to come to Toowoomba to run a Yes forum,” he said.
“This is someone who repeatedly called on me to support the Yes campaign, repeatedly made statements in support of that campaign and yet then tried just this week to say that that wasn’t what happened.
“People might not agree with me, but I’ve made it my job to make sure that people know where I stand, and to try and rewrite history in this way shows utter contempt for the intelligence of the voter here.
“How can you trust anything that this person says?”
‘Been inundated’: Independent says Hamilton corflute tactic backfires
Groom independent Suzie Holt says she has seen an influx of new volunteers and fundraising following the release of a new series of LNP corflutes branding her a “teal”.
The new signage by sitting member Garth Hamilton, which displays the word TEAL and an arrow pointing to the right, have been positioned next to Ms Holt’s corflutes across Toowoomba since early voting opening on Tuesday.
Ms Holt said the move had drawn a negative response from a number of residents who then wanted to support her.
“He showed his hand – it means that they’re worried they don’t have the policies, they’re not actually listening to the community and the community is responding,” she said.
“Since they’ve gone up, we have been inundated with volunteers, inundated with donations, inundated with requests to help because people do not like it.
“People are tired of the political divisiveness and they have had a gutful.”
Ms Holt had also alleged the signs breached electoral rules, however the Australian Electoral Commission told News Corp it met all requirements and guidelines.
When asked about the value of the tactic and whether he thought Ms Holt could win the seat, Mr Hamilton said he wasn’t taking Groom for granted.
“Everyone who is fortunate enough to become a member should demonstrate their willingness to fight for the privilege of being representative of their electorate,” he said.
“What I think is the real issue is, is that the risk presented by the teal independents, particularly those supported by Climate 200, is that people maybe didn’t understand what it was I’d be supporting.
“I don’t think at the last election anyone thought that you’d see to support the Greens 73 per cent of the time.”
‘Dark void’: Young voters’ brutal assessment of Groom candidates
Thousands of Toowoomba residents are likely to have voted early by the end of this week, and some of their assessments on candidates have been brutal.
Young couple Jamie and Abby, who cast their ballots at the Annex early voting centre in the CBD on Tuesday, admitted they had donkey-voted despite having real concerns about housing.
“Honestly, for us, we’re late 20s, early 30s, and the whole thing has given us existential dread over property and the housing crisis,” Abby said.
“We actually donkey-voted for the first time — it’s been a tough one when we think that a lot of the candidacy here is just not very good.
“I think everyone around our age bracket is in a really dark void about any possible solution, even locally that’s going to happen.”
Local woman Sue said her top issue had motivated her to vote for independent Suzie Holt.
Key surprises in how-to-vote cards revealed
Several of the parties running in Groom have released their how-to-vote cards for the 2025 election — and it could have big implications for independent Suzie Holt if voters followed suit.
The LNP and One Nation have both preferenced Ms Holt second-last on their cards, which are suggestive literature for how those parties would like supporters to put their preferences.
Ms Holt, who polled fourth on the primary vote in 2022, enjoyed an extraordinary flow of preferences to finish second against incumbent Garth Hamilton.
This included 54 per cent of One Nation’s votes, which was worth nearly 10 per cent of the vote.
Family First has also preferenced Ms Holt second-last.
In another move that has implications, Labor’s Richard Edwards has preferenced fellow independent Kirstie Smolenski over Ms Holt.
Ms Smolenski finished 1100 votes behind Ms Holt in 2022.
Greens candidate Alyce Nelligan and Trumpet of Patriots’ Jamie Marr have both preference Ms Holt second and Ms Smolenski third.
Neither independent will release how-to-vote cards, in line with their policies from three years ago.
Readers should note how-to-vote cards are suggestive in nature and have no impact on how a ballot is calculated after preferences, which are only directed by the voter with the numbers they write in.
Windsor makes big case for Groom independent
He was once the centre of federal politics during the Gillard minority government, and now celebrated independent MP Tony Windsor believes Groom is well-placed if the next government can’t form a majority.
The former member for New England has endorsed Suzie Holt, who is hoping to unseat Garth Hamilton on May 3 and become Groom’s first federal independent since the 1930s.
This has included appearing at Ms Holt’s launch, where he said he spoke about his time acting as the balance of power between 2010 and 2013.
“History says, and if you look at the data, the marginal seats or those seats that are competitive at election time are paid attention to by both sides, not just the side that assumes that they have some sort of traditional ownership of the seat,” he said.
“I was able to achieve a new hospital for Tamworth, that had been on the books for some years but it never was really delivered.
“The base work had been done, all the budgeting and things had been done but no bricks had been laid.
“For many years, both sides of parliament in government in majority really ignored capital funding in relation to health and from a regional perspective.
“What Rob Oakeshott (fellow independent) and I were able to do was make sure that the money that was in the health and hospital fund over $2 billion, a substantial amount of money, was going to go to regional Australia and 135 regional health services received some funding out of that bucket – New England was one of them.”
On Ms Holt, Mr Windsor believed she had demonstrated the work ethic and networking skills to be an MP.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a political candidate that’s worked right through the three years, in what’s essentially been a campaign,” he said.
“I’ve rarely seen an individual who wants to help people in the manner that she does, and really the basis of our parliamentary system is that representatives are elected in various electorates and they all go off to Canberra to make decisions.”
Hamilton rejects ‘unequal share’ case
Groom MP Garth Hamilton has heavily rebuked the idea the region doesn’t get its “fair share” of funding, while also directly attacking independents Suzie Holt and Kirstie Smolenski in the process.
Mr Hamilton, who is fighting for a second full term in parliament, faces a fierce contest from the returning candidates, who have both argued an independent would secure more for the region than the major parties have.
“The region receives little in the way of federal government grants, there’s been no action on Inland Rail, the Toowoomba Railway Parkland has seen no movement forward in years and its funding is set to disappear,” Ms Holt said at a recent event.
When presented with this notion, Mr Hamilton argued the region’s incoming infrastructure pipeline suggested the opposite was true.
“There is $110bn in the infrastructure pipeline, so divide that by 151 seats, that should be $728m each,” he said.
“We’ve got $5bn in the next 10 years and we had $1.2bn in the Toowoomba Bypass alone, so that’s seven times the average.
“As soon as you put the scrutiny to it, all I see is us batting well above the average.”
Mr Hamilton claimed candidates like Ms Holt and Ms Smolenski were “talking down” the region.
“Tell me a city in Queensland that is better than Toowoomba, where you’d rather live? None have a better way of life and a better standard of living,” he said.
“If the idea (marginal seats always did better) was true, there would be marginal seats paved in gold.
“I wish these people would stop talking down this great city.
“What they’re doing is talking down the achievements of all the community groups and leaders that advocated for them.
“We’re saying this at a time when we did get an equestrian centre, and the Inland Rail is coming through.”
Mr Hamilton did endorse the Toowoomba Equestrian Centre’ inclusion in the 2032 Olympic Games, as did Ms Holt and Ms Smolenski.
LNP matches Labor pledge over Black Gully funding
A Labor promise to provide much-needed funding to a key parkland in Toowoomba has been matched by the LNP.
ALP candidate Richard Edwards on March 22 announced the Albanese government would fund $1.8m towards upgrades at the Black Gully Linear Reserve and Captain Cook Reserve, as part of his campaign launch with Senator Anthony Chisholm.
“Projects like this one are all part of our plan to improve the liveability of Australia’s regional centres by delivering public spaces the community can enjoy,” Senator Chisholm wrote at the time.
Incumbent Garth Hamilton has since matched the figure, meaning the project will be greenlit regardless of who forms government.
‘I’m not a teal’: Smolenski makes funding position clear
Second-time independent candidate Kirstie Smolenski says she is “not a teal”, taking aim at a “smear campaign” she says is trying to derail her bid for Groom.
The nurse and small business owner, who is self-funded along with community donations totalling about $10,000, is one of two independents alongside Suzie Holt vying for the previously-safe conservative seat.
But Ms Smolenski, who finished about 1100 votes behind Ms Holt three years ago, said she had been at pains to assure voters she had no involvement with Climate 200, a lobby group focused on action on climate change and investment in renewables.
“I’m copping a barrage of questions everywhere I go, on my social media and in person, ‘are you teal?’ — no I am not and it is interrupting the focus of my conversations,” she said.
“I want to be talking about what’s important, which is housing, which is transport, rail, cost of living, water security.
“I am not being backed by the teal group, I’m beholden to the people of Groom only, not a group or party and I work incredibly hard for my money.
“I find it nearly offensive, I did a 10-hour shift on Monday, so I could go to the (Chamber of Commerce) forum (last week).”
Ms Smolenski also slammed printed advertising by the LNP, which she said paints her as a teal.
“I wanna be talking about the issues but people are now being incredibly distracted about the smear campaign that the Liberal Party have put out into everyone’s letterboxes in the past few days and it’s affecting my campaign,” she said.
The material in question does not mention Ms Smolenski or Ms Holt by name.
Ms Smolenski said she had enjoyed doorknocking and campaigning across Toowoomba, arguing she was reaching parts of the city that had been ignored by the major parties.
“A lot more people are recognising me, who I am, what I stand for and they’re also in favour of having an independent member of parliament,” she said.
“They’re sick of the status quo – so many people that I speak to, they just want change.”
Ms Smolenski is running on a campaign of increasing regional housing supply (through a regional housing infrastructure fund) as well as advocating for passenger rail to Brisbane and reforms to campaign finance laws.
Greens candidate reveals housing woes
Greens candidate Alyce Nelligan knows how crippling Toowoomba’s housing crisis is considering her family are currently fighting to find a new place to live.
The local identity and disability advocate, who uses a wheelchair, has revealed the difficulties of trying to either rent or buy while juggling a federal campaign.
Ms Nelligan, who ran for the Greens in 2019 and achieved the party’s best result in the seat, revealed she and her family had been told to find a new house due to their landlord selling.
It comes as both major parties and local candidates pitch solutions to the city’s shortage of housing, with vacancy rate sitting at just 0.6 per cent.
Speaking at her launch last week, Ms Nelligan said the existing struggles were made worse for people with disabilities.
“We’ve got a housing crisis here on the Darling Downs, we have young families like mine vying for rentals when there’s 27 other families trying to get that same house,” she said.
“We’re applying for 50 houses just to be able to find a home.
“So you can imagine with the one per cent vacancy rate, which is what we have in the Darling Downs, how many houses are accessible? It’s hardly any.
“About 95 per cent of all housing stock in Australia is not accessible in any way and so we are really at a crisis, especially for the disabled community to be able to just find a home.”
Ms Nelligan also placed Medicare expansion, major reforms to the NDIS and easing cost-of-living pressures as part of her key priorities.
Hamilton pledges funding for headstone project
Incumbent Garth Hamilton said the LNP has pledged $100,000 towards improving security at the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery, in a wake of a shocking vandalism incident last year.
Mr Hamilton said the money from the Safer Communities Fund would go towards new CCTV.
The disgraceful acts of vandalism that occurred last year resulted in damage to memorials and monuments was despicable, and it caused great anguish in our community, but particularly for the impacted families,” he said in a release.
The restoration of the more than 100 headstones damaged, the cost of which was more than $500,000, is currently being organised by community members.
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Originally published as Groom votes: Toowoomba candidates meet with voters as campaign reaches last two weeks to May 3 federal election
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