Election 2022: Race tightens in Page as voters turn off Scott Morrison

New polling has shown the race for the flood-ravaged seat of Page in Northern NSW is tightening as voters make up their minds days out from the national poll. See the results.

A new UComm poll of five crucial marginal seats in areas affected by natural disasters shows a tightening of the race between the Nationals and Labor in Page.

The Nationals hold the seat by 9.5 per cent, however polling shows the two-party preferred race tightening with Hogan in front of Labor candidate Patrick Deegan, 51:49.

The result comes as voters pick Scott Morrison’s approach to climate policy as being a drag on the Coalition vote, while others claim his approach to the Northern Rivers floods was sub-par.

The Nationals maintained a lead in our exit poll when pre-polling opened earlier this month.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s popularity might see a swing against the Nationals in the seat of Page. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake.

Page encompasses the major flood-ravaged towns of Lismore and Grafton and has a habit of electing a member from the party which forms government since 1990.

Lismore midwife Grace Jeffery says Scott Morrison’s climate policy following the floods and his approach to women’s issues creates an “unspoken” understanding that he is “unfit” to be Prime Minister among her peers.

Ms Jeffery placed Labor third on her house of representatives ballot and the Nationals in the bottom two.

“The climate catastrophe, that’s what it comes down to,” she said.

“He’s unfit, there’s an unspoken consensus that he’s unfit and doesn’t reflect anything we stand for or want”.

In her line of work Ms Jeffery says she has seen Nationals votes switch over to other independents including the United Australia Party.

“In this electorate Kevin Hogan is a personable man, people who have lived here a long time value what the National party means but I think that a lot of the people who might have traditionally voted for the Nationals are voting UAP,” she said.

“That’s what I see as a midwife when I’m out helping my clients”.

Alan Browne, a Page electorate veteran says he is nominally a Labor voter but might back an independent.

He isn’t surprised that the contest is tight given the fact that there are ten candidates with minor parties set to take votes off the Nationals and Labor.

The Greens and independent Hanabeth Luke have polled highly in the electorate while the UAP, Federation Party, Indigenous Party of Australia and Liberal Democrats are preferencing each other over the major parties.

“I wasn’t so happy with their (the government’s) response during the floods,” he said.

“When Morrison came he wasn’t available to be confronted by people with grievances and with Covid I thought they dragged their feet.

“Their obfuscation in other areas as well I find incredibly annoying”.

Scott Morrison’s character, Mr Browne says, will work against Kevin Hogan during the election on Saturday.

“Among my cohort he is very unpopular, among my daughter’s cohort he is very unpopular,” he said.

“All this talk of him being a ‘bulldozer, just drop the ’dozer’ off the end, he’s a bully.”

The voters of Page rejected Bill Shorten’s Labor platform in a big way in 2019 handing the Nationals a swing of five per cent.

Labor Party Page candidate Patrick Deegan. Picture Cath Piltz

Labor insiders suggest a victory for Patrick Deegan might be unlikely but they are confident a swing against the government will occur on Saturday.

“The race for Page is tightening and the results of the poll reflect what our volunteers have been feeding back to us on pre-poll booths,” Deegan said.

“This contest isn’t about me or Mr Hogan, it’s about the community and how we’ve been let down by the federal government.

“People are frustrated with Scott Morrison and his habit for telling lies and his habit for making announcements and not following through”.

Kevin Hogan was busy pre-polling in his electorate on Tuesday and was contacted for comment.