It was my first time managing media coverage of a federal election, and boy was it something.
I noticed things both before the election and on polling day that are worth mentioning.
However, before I get into all that, I want to thank and shine light on the fantastic journalists we have across our mastheads.
They have been absolute legends covering the region’s electorates and went the extra mile, especially on Saturday, to cover the big day itself. To have a newspaper group with journalists dedicated to reporting in real time can be rare these days, and it is worth celebrating.
Now, let’s start with the pre-election period.
Do you know how difficult it is to get hold of some candidates? It’s ironic that people who are wanting to get their name out to voters can be absolutely awful communicators.
Now this wasn’t every candidate, and I won’t name names *cough, cough, Trumpet of Patriots*, but it was a task nonetheless.
Speaking of Trumpet of Patriots, what a loss for Clive Palmer.
Imagine spending tens of millions of dollars spamming Australians with racist and fear-mongering text messages and in the case of Nicholls, sending them to residents that hadn’t even seen the candidate’s face in the region, and not gaining a single seat in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
I also found it interesting that the candidate ranking third on the Nicholls first preference count was the One Nation candidate, with just over 10,500 votes.
There was little to no advertising from this candidate and they were one of a few candidates that barely showed their face in the region at all.
This brings me to the vote count in Nicholls.
Even though Sam Birrell won in a landslide, it is interesting to note that Kim Travers sustained a good amount of second preference votes compared to Labor numbers in past elections.
In particular, it seems that the closer to Melbourne you go in Nicholls, the more votes there were for Labor.
Ms Travers won the polling booths of Kilmore and Broadford, and wasn’t far behind Mr Birrell in Seymour.
It is important to note that Broadford was the only place where Labor made an election funding promise this year in Nicholls.
Labor has also had strong support there in previous polls.
This year, Ms Travers won 34.46 per cent of the two candidate preferred vote, and though that figure is dwarfed by Mr Birrell’s 65.54 per cent, it is the highest Labor has recorded in the past 25 years.
But does that mean Nicholls is leaning towards a change? I would say no, but bear with me.
Rob Priestly was able to snag 46.19 per cent of the two party preferred vote at the 2022 election, aligning with the wider push for more independent MPs, and though he didn’t win, that was the first time an independent had a been a main contender for Nicholls.
And talking with people at pre-polling booths and hearing from some of our journalists on the day, many people expressed dismay at the lack of independents running in this election.
If we look at the numbers from some of the popular voting booths in the region in more populated areas such as Shepparton, in 2022 Mr Priestly led in those booths while Mr Birrell dominated farming communities and towns where his rival would have been less well known.
However, this time around those booths have all preferenced the Nationals.
Maybe it’s for lack of a better choice, or perhaps voters have trust in Mr Birrell after his first term — I can’t say.
The Nationals have been strong supporters of the nation’s farmers, so it’s easy to see the appeal and benefit they have to voters in this region and why they’ve been able to hold on to all nine of their House of Representative seats in the regions.
However, my question is this, what does a member in opposition do in when faced with another term out of power?
Though Nicholls is a safe Nationals seat, I do think, if given the chance again, people would give a strong independent a go, especially after another campaign full of election promises that might not come to fruition.
