Gilmore votes: Fiona Phillips v Andrew Constance in clutch Gilmore contest
Fiona Phillips faces an almighty challenge to hold the key seat of Gilmore for Labor with the Liberals bringing in former NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance.
Illawarra Star
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Gilmore will be one of the key seats at this election with incumbent Labor member Fiona Phillips being challenged by former NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance.
Ms Phillips won the seat after the retirement of the Liberal’s Ann Sudmalis in 2019, with the Nowra local beating blow in Warren Mundine by around 3 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
The electorate has been predominantly held by the Coalition with the exception of the last three years and from 1993 to 1996 when Peter Knott held the seat for Labor.
The Candidates
Fiona Phillips (Labor) - Incumbent
Nowra local Fiona Phillips will be looking to become the first Labor MP to retain Gilmore in the electorate’s history.
Mrs Phillips was born and raised on a dairy farm and went on to have a long career in education, skills and training which included working as the Business Operations Manager for the Navy Aviation Systems Program Office based at HMAS Albatross.
Mrs Phillips term has coincided with the electorate being battered by bushfires, the pandemic and flooding.
Mrs Phillips contested the state seat of South Coast in 2015 where she lost to Liberal option Shelley Hancock by 10.5 per cent before running for Gilmore in 2016 where she was beaten by Mrs Sudmalis.
Andrew Constance (Liberal Party)
Andrew Constance, a lifelong Liberal and former senior minister in the NSW government, will prove to be a tough opponent for the incumbent.
Mr Constance rose to national prominence during the Black Summer Bushfires in 2019-20 when, as the state member for Bega, he called out Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his handling of the government’s response.
Mr Constance has admitted he is “a different person” because of the bushfires and recently outlined his reasoning of quitting state parliament to run in Gilmore.
Mr Constance may be bruised by the outcome in the Bega by-election where his successors Fiona Kotvojs lost the seat with a 12 per cent swing against the Libs.
Carmel McCallum is coming back for her third tilt at the seat after polling around 10 per cent of the vote in the previous two elections.
Mrs McCallum has more than four decades of experience as a pharmacist and was the vice president of Professional Pharmacists Australia only until recently.
Mrs McCallum will be looking to ride the momentum of December’s council elections where the Greens had seven councillors elected (including a returning mayor) in Kiama, Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla.
Jordan Maloney (United Australia Party)
Jordan Maloney has been a self-employed chiropractor having worked in Ulladulla and Berry for the last decade.
The UAP’s Milton Leslight polled 3.4 per cent of the vote in 2019.
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