Battle for Nicholls: Basin plan a “ticking time bomb”

Damian Drum’s retirement has set the scene for intriguing tussle in Nicholls between independent Rob Priestly and two Coalition contenders.

When Rob Priestly confirmed last October he would stand as an independent candidate in the super safe seat of Nicholls at the next election the odds appeared stacked heavily against him.

Sitting member Damian Drum had not made a call on his future and would be almost impossible to dislodge with his 20 per cent margin if he saddled up again for the Nationals.

But when the former AFL footballer and coach sounded the siren on his political career two months later the goals posts moved.

It set the scene for a riveting battle between Coalition contenders, the Nationals’ Sam Birrell and Liberal Stephen Brooks, and Mr Priestly.

The son of Goulburn Valley dairy farming parents and a Shepparton small businessman for 25 years, Mr Priestly believes the region already having an independent at state level, Suzanna Sheed, should be an early red flag for the government.

“As an independent I have got a vote I’m prepared to use on behalf of my community which we haven’t seen happen in the time of this parliament,” he said.

“Voters have definitely looked at the success of attracting investment with an independent in Shepparton and it’s why I am getting such enormous community support.”

Outgoing Nicholls MP Damian Drum.

Despite Mr Drum playing a pivotal role last year in dragging his party to an agreement on Net Zero by 2050 and leading an unsuccessful charge to rewrite the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, Mr Priestly said the Nationals had failed the Goulburn Valley.

“We’re in a situation where the Basin Plan is a bit of a ticking time bomb,” he said.

“They’ve had eight or nine years to disarm that and haven’t.

“We’re looking down the barrel of a Labor Government and the real possibility that the same legislation they haven’t changed for all that time is going to be used in a way that is going to cause another wave of social and economic harm in our part of the world.”

Nationals candidate Sam Birrell

Mr Birrell, who hopes to hold Nicholls for the Nationals, said the criticisms were unfair.

“The Nationals put some amendments up to try and fix the problems with the main one being the 450 gigalitre add on to South Australia, but got defeated in parliament” he said.

“We are going to try again.

“My chances of getting it done with 21 members of the National Party on side more than one independent are a lot better.

“This is the classic call everything out, but not have any plans to deal with it.”

Mr Priestly also senses voters are over the boorish behaviour in Canberra and upset a federal integrity body, which Indi independent Helen Haines has championed, isn’t happening.

“There are things going on in parliament you wouldn’t get away with in a community club, a small business,” he said.

“But it’s happening in what should be our country’s leadership.”

Mr Priestly and his wife Sonia, a speech therapist, have three boys and the family commercial laundry business he runs with brother Phil employs 350 people.

“We do every small town pretty much in Victoria from the South Australian border right down to Mallacoota,” he said.

“It all goes through distribution centres and comes back and gets processed in Mooroopna.

“So I’m a true believer in the opportunity and potential of regional Australia.”

Mr Priestly has got the backing of 250 volunteers sor far and a growing war chest of funds to have a decent crack.

“When we started this we knew it was going to be hard,” he said.

“But we are streets ahead of where we thought we would be at this time and the appetite from the community has been enormous.

“We’ve got really good momentum.”