Eden-Monaro by-election updates: Result too close to call with pre-poll votes yet to be counted
ABC’s election analyst calls victory for Labor, as candidates await pre-poll votes.
The knife-edge battle for the marginal NSW seat of Eden-Monaro has gone down to the wire, as Labor’s primary vote falls and Anthony Albanese nervously awaits the return of thousands of postal votes.
Despite neither Labor’s Kristy McBain nor the Liberal Party’s Fiona Kotvojs declaring victory on Saturday night, Liberals said the unclear result and sizeable swing against the ALP of nearly 4 per cent was “really bad news” for the Opposition Leader.
ABC election analyst Antony Green has called victory for Labor after a late dump of pre-poll votes on Saturday night.
Ms McBain has 51 per cent of the two-candidate preferred vote, to Ms Kotvojs’ 48 per cent as of early Sunday morning.
A government has not won a seat off the opposition at a by-election in 100 years. The swing against the government is traditionally 3.8 per cent but in this case, the swing against Labor is two to three per cent.
While the result may not even be clear on Sunday, Mr Albanese tried to appear optimistic.
“I said when (former Labor MP) Mike Kelly resigned that it would be tough for Labor to hold this seat. That we started off on 48 per cent of the two-party preferred vote because we lost a member who had been an outstanding representative,” Mr Albanese said at Labor’s by-election night party in Merimbula on the NSW south coast.
“As of tonight, which is still being counted so it is too early to claim an outcome, what we can declare is as of right now we are over 2500 votes ahead. And I would much rather be Kristy McBain than one of her opponents right now.”
In a result that will depend on preferences, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, which is preferencing Labor, ended by-election night on 5.6 per cent and Nationals candidate Trevor Hicks, whose official how-to-vote card preferences the Libs, was on 6.26 per cent.
Like the Shooters, the Greens were on 5.6 per cent, representing a swing against the party of 2.79 per cent. Greens preferences should largely flow to Labor.
Here is how the by-election day played out:
Rosie Lewis 11.25pm: Kotvojs hails ‘fantastic’ result
The Liberal Party’s Eden-Monaro by-election night party appears more jubilant than Labor’s, with supporters yelling “Fiona, Fiona, Fiona” as their candidate arrives.
“Wow, if this is the result when we haven’t got a result yet, just imagine when we do,” Fiona Kotvojs says.
“We don’t have a result and it would be really nice to say that we did tonight but we don’t. It’s been 100 years since the government has won a seat off the opposition in a by-election. The average swing against the government has been 3.8 per cent in those by-elections. So far, we are going the other way. And that’s really good, that’s fantastic.”
Like Labor’s Kristy McBain, Dr Kotvojs reflects on the tough road ahead for the electorate.
“We have still got, in our community, a tough couple of years coming ahead. Recovering from the fires I know in my community is going to be tough. It is hard and unless you have been in it and through it, I don’t think anybody knows just how hard it is,” she says.
“It’s going to be tough after COVID-19. We have gone well and we are going well but it is going to be tough. A government that gives leadership, a government that gives direction, a government that sets a base that supports people is what we need.
“But the other thing that is essential is a community that loves and cares and respect each other. A community that supports each other, a community that uses that base and makes it grow. If we keep doing that as a society, we are going to come out of all of this stronger that we were when we went in … That is the Eden-Monaro and the Australia I will continue to work for regardless of the outcome of this election.”
Rosie Lewis 11.19pm: Postal votes favour Kotvojs
The Liberal Party is ahead in the initial two-candidate preferred count for postal votes.
Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs has 2464 votes and Labor candidate Kristy McBain has 2394 votes.
Rosie Lewis 11.13pm: ‘I will continue to stand up’ McBain
Labor’s candidate for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain has made a passionate and at times emotional speech to her supporters and promised she would keep fighting for the people in the electorate once the by-election is forgotten.
The former Bega Valley Shire mayor, who came to prominence earlier this year as she led recovery efforts to the devastating Black Summer bushfires, wore Labor red as she told her by-election night party she had been more nervous when directing people to leave the region in the middle of the emergency.
“Before I sit down, we know it is too close to call. Over the next couple of days the spotlight is going to fade, the mail in your letter boxes will dry up, the robocalls will stop. But we still have a big challenge ahead of us,” Ms McBain said.
“Recovery is going to be really hard in Eden-Monaro and we need to continue to fight every single day to support the people that are being left behind and are falling through the cracks.
“I need to be clear about this. When the cameras go away and the spotlight fades, my resolve will not. Regardless of the outcome of this election I will continue to stand up for these regions that I know and love. I will continue to stand up for people affected by bushfires, I will continue to stand up for farmers. I will continue to stand up for mothers who need maternity services. I will continue to stand up for better roads, better access to health care and education, I will continue to stand up for workers and I will continue to stand up for regions, regardless of what happens.”
Rosie Lewis 11.08pm: Albanese: It’s too early to claim an outcome
Neither side is declaring victory tonight.
Appearing at his candidate Kristy McBain’s by-election night party in Merimbula, Anthony Albanese tells supporters Labor is 2500 votes ahead but concedes the result is too close to call.
“I said when (former Labor MP) Mike Kelly resigned that it would be tough for Labor to hold this seat. That we started off on 48 per cent of the two-party preferred vote because we lost a member who had been an outstanding representative,” the Opposition Leader said.
“But we made a commitment at that point in time that we would stand up during this campaign as the Australian Labor Party always will, for the people who are left behind.
“As of tonight, which is still being counted so it is too early to claim an outcome, what we can declare is as of right now we are over 2500 votes ahead. And I would much rather be Kristy McBain than one of her opponents right now.”
Rosie Lewis 10.49pm: Queanbeyan pre-poll numbers bad news for Labor
Pre-poll numbers for Queanbeyan have come through, with the Labor vote down 7.5 per cent, the ABC’s electoral analyst Antony Green says.
The Liberal Party’s primary vote is on 37.5 per cent and Labor is on 36.64 per cent.
That takes the swing against Labor to 3.4 per cent, Mr Green says.
.@AlboMP says it's too early to claim an outcome tonight but Labor is 2500 votes ahead. "I would much rather be Kristy McBain than one of or her opponents right now" #auspol @australian #EdenMonaroVotes
— Rosie Lewis (@rosieslewis) July 4, 2020
Rosie Lewis 10.38pm: Candidates set to make appearances
Counting for the knife-edge battle for the seat of Eden-Monaro will finish at 11pm tonight, in recognition of the health and safety of counting staff.
We can expect all votes from today, all pre-poll votes and some postal votes to have been counted.
Both candidates, Labor’s Kristy McBain and the Liberal Party’s Fiona Kotvojs, are due to make appearances at their respective by-election night parties too.
Rosie Lewis 10.04pm: Postal votes favour Labor
NSW Labor senator Kristina Keneally, who is also the opposition home affairs spokesman, says in the first 3000 postal votes counted tonight Labor has had a 2.4 per cent swing to it.
She has no two-party preferred vote.
“It does suggest that we’ve had a pretty good swing to us in our postal votes,” Senator Keneally tells the ABC.
“I have to say this is a good result for us so far in the postals but there’s a lot more postals to be counted. We did run a postal vote campaign for the first time in some time.”
Dennis Shanahan 9.58pm: ALP simply doesn’t speak to enough Australians
No matter what the result in Eden-Monaro is, the vital message for Labor hasn’t changed in the last six years. READ Dennis Shanahan’s full piece here.
Rosie Lewis 9.52pm: Another good trend for the Libs
Environment Minister Sussan Ley also has some mail on the pre-poll vote for the Liberal Party. She tells the ABC Fiona Kotvojs received a 32 per cent primary vote today, compared to 40 per cent from pre-poll. Another good trend for the Libs.
Rosie Lewis 9.42pm: First pre-poll numbers in
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has some interesting pre-poll numbers to share.
In the Yass booth on the day, the vote was Labor 38 per cent, Liberal 36.6 per cent.
But in pre-poll the Libs were 42 per cent versus Labor 33 per cent.
And in Merimbula – Kristy McBain’s home town - on the day, the Liberal Party was 33.6 per cent compared to Labor on 45.8 per cent.
It has switched in the pre-poll vote, with the Liberal Party on 45.7 per cent and Labor on 42 per cent.
“Big, big, big improvements in our pre-poll versus the polling booth on the day in both Merimbula and Yass,” Mr Taylor tells Sky News.
Rosie Lewis 9.12pm: Queanbeyan vote disappoints Labor
Senior Labor sources are eagerly awaiting the pre-poll results from Queanbeyan booths, conceding the party didn’t do as well in the town today as it would have liked.
If the pre-poll vote for Labor is a bit worse in Queanbeyan than what it was today, Labor says its vote “could evaporate potentially very quickly”. At the same time, the party may do better in the pre-poll vote. It’s a waiting game.
Rosie Lewis 8.55pm: ‘Happy to have egg on my face’: Barilaro calls it
It’s very early in the night but NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro has called the election – he says the Liberals have won tonight.
“I’m happy to have egg on my face,” he says on the Sky News panel.
Labor’s deputy leader Richard Marles says Mr Barilaro could be right but we’ve got to see pre-poll results come in.
He says governments around Australia are seeing enormous support during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I started this night saying I thought it was going to be a really difficult night for us because of this,” Mr Marles says.
“If we end up being in the hunt I actually think that’s a pretty good outcome given the circumstances in which we’re fighting this election.”
Rosie Lewis 8.45pm: 43,000 pre-poll results still to be counted
Politicians and political pundits are eagerly awaiting results from the 43,000 pre-poll votes as the two-candidate-preferred swing tightens. About half the electorate voted in pre-poll or requested a postal ballot, which can be returned to the Australian Electoral Commission up to 13 days after polling day. The Liberal Party’s Eden-Monaro candidate Fiona Kotvojs told The Weekend Australian on Friday she did not expect a result for another 10 days or so.
There were 16,840 applications for postal votes, with 5000 of those to be counted tonight. More postals - which if the vote is incredibly close will determine the result - will be counted over the coming days. As mentioned earlier, the law allows 13 days after the by-election for receipt of postals.
Rosie Lewis 8.22pm: Preferences key more than ever for prized seat
The winner of the prized NSW marginal seat of Eden-Monaro always depends on preferences.
The ABC’s electoral analyst Antony Green says preferences are flowing more strongly to Labor than in 2019 and has a couple of observations worth noting.
Larry Anthony tells @David_Speers he reckons 85 per cent of the Nationals preferences will flow to the Libs. He says he'd prefer @JohnBarilaroMP didn't preference Labor before Libs in 2019 but claims it's a "sideshow" #auspol @australian
— Rosie Lewis (@rosieslewis) July 4, 2020
He suggests there may be “more leakage” from the Nationals vote to Labor, after The Australian revealed NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro and his supporters were undermining Scott Morrison’s bid to defy 100 years of history and claim the seat by asking voters to preference Labor before the Liberals.
Green also says there are “possibly stronger” results for Labor courtesy of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, which will receive the donkey vote and is preferencing Labor.
Rosie Lewis 8.03pm: Credlin, Marles butt heads over Albanese
Sky News anchor Peta Credlin, who was also Tony Abbott’s chief of staff, and Labor’s deputy leader Richard Marles have butted heads on the television channel’s by-election night panel.
“You can’t hide from the fact, mate, it reflects on your leader,” Credlin declares.
“In 100 years, what we didn’t have world wars? We didn’t have other global issues? We didn’t have things like the GFC? … There are plenty of things that have happened in the last 100 years. This pandemic is important but it’s not seismic that it rewrites history.”
Mr Marles stresses the by-election is not occurring in normal circumstances, with the government of the day occupying “almost the totality of the free media space, which is completely understandable”.
Expect to hear this line a lot from the Labor camp, especially if the result doesn’t go their way.
“We’re talking about an opposition seat which has been held by less than 2 per cent, it’s on 0.9 per cent. That’s the precondition which would give rise to a circumstance where an opposition could lose a seat to the government,” Mr Marles says.
Former Labor powerbroker Graham “Richo” Richardson has the last word here: “The crux of the problem is, if Labor doesn’t win tonight Anthony Albanese does suffer. There’s no way to try and transplant the leader away from the results. The leadership has always got to be wrapped in that result.”
Rosie Lewis 7.50pm: Shooters preferences flowing to Labor
Nationals sources say preferences from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party are flowing to Labor two-to-one.
It’s also worth noting the more than 3 per cent swing towards the HEMP Party’s candidate at this point in the count. Where those preferences go will be fascinating.
Rosie Lewis 7.44pm: Libs ‘might pull this off’
NSW Nationals leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro says he thinks the Liberal Party “might pull this off”.
He tells the Sky News panel he saw no anger towards the government on the booths, just “a bit of fear and anxiety”.
Rosie Lewis 7.36pm: Labor missing Mike Kelly
Labor senator Kristina Keneally says she’s still concerned about how the result is going to turn out for her party without popular former member Mike Kelly and in the middle of a pandemic.
“There is a heck of a lot of votes coming out of those pre-polls and I really want to see where those are going. The information from some of the people who are in those pre-poll centres, they’re saying that, you know, one of my pre-poll scrutineers has got over 12 tables and she is not confident that we are going to know tonight. It is looking quite close,” Senator Keneally tells the ABC.
“So I think this is nice to see early on but you know, really, I think we’re far too early to make any kind of call.”
Liberal MP Sussan Ley notes the primary vote swings towards her party, with some “big swings” in various booths.
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Rosie Lewis 7.31pm: Early swing to Labor
The ABC’s Antony Green says the swing is settling in at between 2 per cent to 3 per cent to Labor.
“So in some circumstances, I could almost call it at this point but I won’t at the moment because we’ve seen such a shift with the postal voting in this election,” he tells the ABC.
Dennis Shanahan 7.25pm: Nationals vote is down
While the early count is still low and from outlying, smaller communities it is showing the contest is tight between Labor and the Liberals with swings to and fro.
What is interesting is that in these outlying areas, where the Nationals should be expected to do well, the Nationals’ vote is down.
It’s still too early to tell but as the Liberals and Labor fight it out it is worth asking whether the Nationals will do any better than they did at the last election - about 7 per cent and less than the Greens - and whether the brouhaha about John Barilaro secretly supporting a preference for the ALP over the Liberals will have the impact that was expected.
Rosie Lewis 7.18pm: Swing to Shooters party
More than 30 booths have been counted now and the swing towards the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party is worth noting. The SFF didn’t contest Eden-Monaro in the 2019 election and have a swing towards them so far of 5.44 per cent. The Shooters received the number one spot on the ballot paper, which according to electoral analysts could add 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent to their vote. Their how-to-vote card preferences Labor, which will help Anthony Albanese’s candidate Kristy McBain.
With 4 per cent of the vote counted, ABC election analyst Antony Green says there’s a 2 per cent swing to Labor on a two-party preferred basis.
Rosie Lewis 7.14pm: Win in pandemic times ‘would be fantastic’
Labor’s deputy leader Richard Marles says if Labor wins tonight, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, “that would be a fantastic result for us”.
He notes on Sky News that Scott Morrison has been on television every day during the campaign, as the government attempts to rebuild the economy and combat the health crisis.
Rosie Lewis 6.59pm: ‘Nothing to worry about’: Keneally
Labor senator Kristina Keneally says there’s nothing to worry about an hour after booths closed.
“We’re talking about tiny booths, a tiny percentage of the vote as Antony (Green) said you can get different results if he applies different models to what he has seen coming in,” she says on the ABC’s by-election panel.
#EdenMonaro 19 of 87 counting centres reported
— Antony Green (@AntonyGreenABC) July 4, 2020
PartyCode, First pref %, (matched PP change in %)
LIB 37.1 (+0.8)
ALP 35.5 (-3.1)
OTH 9.0 (+1.0)
GRN 7.8 (-2.6)
SFF 6.2 (+6.2)
NAT 4.3 (-2.4)
Full results at https://t.co/dHLwqq5lsL #auspol
“It is worth remembering that the biggest polling booths will be the pre-poll booths. They are going to be the biggest polling booths and that’s quite unusual. Less than half the electorate voted today. Most people had already voted and they have either voted in postal votes or pre-polls. So really until we start to see results from those pre-poll and other bigger booths I don’t think we will see a trend of anything meaningful yet.”
Dennis Shanahan 6.55pm: Albanese needs an emphatic win
As the polls close in the by-election for the sprawling NSW southern seat of Eden-Monaro Anthony Albanese and the ALP will be hoping for signs of an early swing towards the Labor Party.
The seat, formerly held by Labor MP, Mike Kelly, who’s retirement sparked the by-election is held on a knife-edge and needs only a few hundred people to change their minds since the election last year to change their minds and Eden-Monaro into a Coalition Government seat.
While Labor is favoured to win the seat because of incumbency, Nationals-Liberals infighting and a campaign against Scott Morrison based on anger over the summer bushfires in the electorate the Opposition Leader needs an emphatic win to vindicate his strategy of appealing to those who “miss out”.
A result similar to the 1,600 vote-victory at the federal election means Labor is just treading water against the Coalition and not making inroads into the standing of the Prime Minister and the Government - what is happening nationally according to published polls.
A narrow win, a simple status quo, will give encouragement to Albanese’s critics within Labor and increase pressure on the ALP’s inability to lift its primary vote in the Newspoll surveys since the it’s last losing election.
Of course, a loss, no matter how narrow, will be a blow to Albanese’s authority and embolden his critics.
That’s why an early swing to Labor is vital for the Opposition leader because it will translate into an emphatic win.
Of course, Albanese has the valid excuse that the national positive mood towards Morrison’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis is just being reflected in Eden-Monaro and not his fault for want of trying or unpopularity. Unfortunately for him that argument won’t be accepted by
Morrison - whom Albanese has taunted through the by-election - or his Labor colleagues.
Lewis, Rosie 6.51pm: Early swing to Lib candidate
Votes are starting to be counted, with more than a dozen booths returned. It’s early days but so far there’s a swing of more than 4 per cent towards the Liberal Party’s Fiona Kotvojs. You can follow the results here: https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-25820-117.htm
Former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardon says on Sky News: “If Labor can’t win tonight, it’s a serious blow to them. It really is serious.
“Please do not take this smile away.”
Voting has just closed.
— Kristy McBain (@KristyMcBain) July 4, 2020
No matter what happens, I'm so proud of the positive campaign we have run to make sure that Eden-Monaro is not left behind. I couldn't have done it without you.
Thank you. pic.twitter.com/fpQXGlHRcg
Rosie Lewis 6.40pm: Lib, Labor both claim underdog status
Both the Liberal and Labor parties are claiming underdog status in Saturday’s Eden-Monaro by-election, which is being contested by two strong local candidates – Fiona Kotvojs (Liberal) and Kristy McBain (Labor) - and 12 others.
Jobs, roads, bushfire and COVID-19 recoveries have been front of mind for the voters of Eden-Monaro, which was a bellwether seat for nearly 50 years until Labor’s Mike Kelly reclaimed the electorate in 2016. But the branch stacking scandal in the Victorian ALP, the raids on the home and office of NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane and divisions stoked by NSW Nationals leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro have also faced candidates on the campaign trail.
Mr Barilaro has tonight confirmed he did vote for Mr Kelly at last year’s election ahead of Dr Kotvojs.
The Nationals preferences should largely flow to the Liberal Party but Mr Barilaro and his supporters have been urging voters to put Labor before the Libs, in an extraordinary act of sabotage that has frustrated the Liberals.
The Greens and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party preferences are set to flow to Labor.
Fiona Friend 5.59pm: Tight result expected
Applications for postal votes surged due to COVID-19, with 16,595 applications lodged.
Another 43,864 votes have been cast at pre-poll.
With 115,000 people registered to vote in the by-election, it is possible half of the electorate voted before polling day.
WHO ARE THE OTHER CANDIDATES?
Fourteen people are running for the seat, with the Greens, Nationals and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers fielding candidates alongside Labor and Liberal.
The other candidates are:
Joy Angel, Sustainable Australia
Michael Balderstone, HEMP Party
Riccardo Bosi, independent
Cathy Griff, Greens
Trevor Hicks, Nationals
James Holgate, independent
James Jansson, Science Party
Dean McCrae, Liberal Democrats
Karen Porter, independent
Jason Potter, Australian Federation Party
Matthew Stadtmiller, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers
Narelle Storey, Christian Democrats.
Angelica Snowden 1.55pm: Candidates make final pitches for Eden-Monaro
Earlier in the day, the candidates weighed their prospects. Nationals candidate Trevor Hicks says he is confident he will be elected, despite polling showing Labor holds a narrow lead.
“We are up against some pretty slick campaigners, and I realise that, I’m a realist, but hopefully the voters will look past the rhetoric from the well-financed campaigners,” Mr Hicks said.
“They need somebody strong and confident and I‘m looking forward to being elected by the people,” he said.
Mr Hicks – a councillor on the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council – cast his vote at Queanbeyan Public School early on Saturday morning.
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack said if voters in the electorate choose Mr Hicks, they will elect a “down to earth” man who “means what he says, and says what he means”.
“Trevor has worked really hard,” Mr McCormack said.
“He has gone to each and every nook and cranny of the electorate,” he said.
“He’s made clear that people know he represents farmers and those people for whom the bushfires have heavily impacted.”
The Weekend Australian has revealed senior Coalition figures believe the party will fall just short of victory, stoking fears that divisions could grow deeper over claims the Nationals have undermined Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs.
NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro and his supporters had asked voters to preference Labor ahead of Dr Kotvojs and prevent the Morrison government’s bid to reclaim the prized marginal seat.
In her final pitch to voters, Dr Kotvojs — a beef farmer from Dignams Creek and former teacher and scientist — urged voters to think about which of the candidates will have the strongest voice in government to “deliver”.
“The most important issues are rebuilding after everything we‘ve gone through, particularly after the fires and COVID, and the ongoing drought – that’s the key thing, rebuilding,” she said.
“Then also jobs, jobs across the whole electorate.”
Dr Kotvojs said she had spoken with Scott Morrison “at length” on Friday night and almost every day in the lead up to the by-election.
“He asks about people who I speak to and he is really concerned and wants to know what I am hearing,” she said.
“For me, we have a Prime Minister who is leading Australia, who is doing the job, who is focusing on rebuilding our communities and our economy.”
Published polls suggested that Labor holds a four-point, two-party-preferred lead this week, but senior party figures refused to claim frontrunner status in the seat.
Anthony Albanese said Labor’s candidate Kristy McBain “deserves to win” and was a strong advocate for the community and Labor.
“Kristy McBain is someone who will take her concerns, regardless of party allegiance, she will be a strong advocate,” Mr Albanese said on Saturday.
“She will be a strong advocate within the Labor Party and within the parliament, to make sure that this community‘s needs, not just get listened to, but that solutions be found.”
Ms McBain, a former Bega Valley Shire mayor, said the by-election was about “amplifying the voices of the region of Eden-Monaro”.
“We have been hit by the triple whammy of drought, bushfires and then the economic impact of COVID-19,” Ms McBain said.
“Today is a chance to send the message that our regions matter, that our regions will not be left behind,” she said.
“Our campaign has been overwhelmingly positive because we wanted to make sure we didn‘t heap negativity on a community doing it tough already.”
The Australian Federal Police revealed it had arrested a 32-year-old man from Blacktown in Sydney’s west for allegedly spreading false emails targeting Ms McBain.
Labor MP Jason Clare says today’s Eden-Monaro by-election would be tight, but Ms McBain was a “fantastic” candidate.
“This seat has always been won by a Government MP since 1972 except the last two elections where we‘ve managed to buck the trend and we are hoping to do that for a third time,” Mr Clare said.
“We have a fantastic candidate in Kristy McBain, former Mayor of Bega, a person who stood by her community and fought for them and marshalled them in the bushfire crisis.”
Liberal MP Jason Falinski said voters would not take out their frustrations with Scott Morrison’s management of the summer bushfires on Dr Kotvojs.
“The question that will be in people‘s minds down at Eden-Monaro is what can people do to assist in the recovery, and competence matters,” Mr Falinski said.
“I think they have a choice between Fiona Kotvojs who is a member of Oxfam, served her nation, has put herself forward for public service in that area again and again, versus Kirsty McBain who during the midst of drought and bushfires, increased rates in the Bega Shire by 8 per cent year on year, has run a record deficit of $9 million.”
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