Upper Hunter by-election candidate Tracy Norman campaigns in an RV
Upper Hunter by-election independent candidate Tracy Norman thought the chefs in her pub were too “flighty” so she trained herself to do the job instead.
NSW
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This weekend’s Upper Hunter state by-election has something for everyone: a sex scandal, a potential threat to Gladys Berejiklian’s government, internal party tensions, and climate change arguments about the future of the planet itself.
It also features one of the wealthiest candidates to ever stand for office at any Australian election.
Former Dungog mayor Tracy Norman is an heiress to the fortune of her late father, Harvey Norman co-founder Ian. She’s a strong presence around Dungog, running multiple businesses and, since 2012, the charming Settler’s Arms.
Were it not for the pressures of campaigning, you could usually find Tracy at work in her pub’s kitchen.
Finding professional chefs “too finicky and fly-by-night”, Norman trained herself up to an impressive level and took over the job.
For a time, Dungog was one of the few places in the country where the mayor would cook your lunch.
She might be back in the kitchen following this weekend if her bid to win the Upper Hunter doesn’t come off. In the meantime, Norman is busily crisscrossing the electorate in her RV, drumming up support.
“Hopefully I’ve got some fans out there,” Norman said. She certainly does in Dungog. Norman failed, however, to secure Malcolm Turnbull’s endorsement. The ex-PM is instead backing rival independent Kirsty O’Connell.
“Good luck to Kirsty with that,” Norman told The Daily Telegraph, noting that Turnbull’s support “is a bit of a double-edged sword around here”.
With Turnbull, that always seems to be so.
Norman is no fan of coal mining, but recognises that the greater concern for the Upper Hunter is the uncertainty generated by both sides of the climate debate.
“If you are going to build new coal mines, just let us know,” she said. “People want to have certainty, regardless if you’re pro-coal or anti-coal.”
Given the latest polling, certainty over this by-election is in short supply. “Anybody who thinks they can forecast the result is kidding themselves,” Port Stephens Labor MP Kate Washington, campaigning in Dungog for Labor’s Upper Hunter candidate Jeff Drayton, points out.
The most significant number in The Daily Telegraph’s YouGov poll didn’t have a name next to it. Nearly 20 per cent had not made a decision.
Still, Labor is a very real chance to win, an unusual circumstance at any recent time in NSW and especially in this seat, which is one of only three statewide never to have been claimed by the ALP.
The best recent result for Labor in the Upper Hunter Region was when independent Rob Oakeshott held the federal seat of Lyne.
All things considered, Tracy Norman is a superior independent candidate. Quite a few people around here would vote for Norman’s RV over a return from Rob.
SCOMO MORE POPULAR THAN GLADYS IN THE HUNTER: POLL
More voters in the Upper Hunter rate Scott Morrison as preferred PM than the number who rate Gladys Berejiklian as preferred Premier.
A YouGov poll, conducted for The Daily Telegraph, found 59 per cent of voters identified Scott Morrison as preferred Prime Minister, with 22 per cent choosing Anthony Albanese and 19 per cent uncommitted.
The poll of 400 voters in the state electorate of the Upper Hunter used live telephone interview questions and was conducted last week.
The poll, ahead of this weekend’s crucial by-election, found 58 per cent of voters backed Premier Gladys Berejiklian as preferred Premier, with 24 backing Labor’s Jodi McKay and 18 per cent uncommitted.
Mr Albanese found himself in conflict with Labor’s federal member for the overlapping seat of Hunter over issues of energy and climate change last year, with Joel Fitzgibbon stepping away from the front bench.
There is an expectation within the government Ms Berejiklian’s personal popularity will assist the Nationals to hold the seat. However, the same YouGov poll published in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph showed the result appeared to be on a knife’s edge, with the Nationals’ primary vote dangerously low at 25 per cent.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian agreed yesterday it would still be a “miracle” if the Nationals were to win in Upper Hunter, sticking by her initial assessment of the seat.
Asked if she still believes it would take a miracle to win, Ms Berejiklian said: “Pretty much,” adding she would not deserve credit for a win. “The people of the Upper Hunter, I’m sure, will carefully consider what’s in their best interest moving forward,” she said.
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