THE most gruelling, drawn-out election campaign in recent history could be all over in a matter of minutes once voting in Calare starts on Saturday night.
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While the rest of the country has endured eight weeks of campaigning, that pales against the experience of Calare.
For us, the campaign really started on February 27 when former member John Cobb ended months of speculation by confirming he was retiring.
That began a spiteful nine-week preselection campaign before Calare’s Nationals membership met in Bathurst on April 30 to nominate Orange state MP Andrew Gee as their man to contest the federal ballot.
Having secured preselection, Mr Gee all-but went to ground, apparently realising the election was effectively his to lose. He has been particularly elusive for the region’s print media, constantly choosing to answer inquiries with written responses from his office rather than being interviewed.
Not nearly as reticent to speak have been Mr Gee’s Labor opponent, [now retired] Bathurst councillor Jess Jennings, and communications lecturer Rod Bloomfield who is running for the new Nick Xenophon Team.
Dr Jennings ran against Mr Cobb in 2013 and failed to make an impact on his margin, defeated as much by Mr Cobb’s personal popularity as the turmoil surrounding the Rudd-Gillard leadership of the party.
In a 2016 campaign where Calare has largely been ignored by the major parties, Dr Jennings did manage to bring shadow treasurer Chris Bowen to the electorate for a series of post-budget forums and has covered thousands of kilometres in his bid to win votes.
Mr Bloomfield has proven an impressive performer at candidates’ forums and also had some star power behind him in party leader Mr Xenophon.
It will be interesting to see just how many votes he attracts and there is a real chance he will outpoll Greens candidate Delanie Sky, but no-one is likely to get near Mr Gee for the main prize.
Indeed, after more than four months of campaigning in Calare the result could be decided within an hour of the polls closing – as was the case three years ago.
We hope that’s not the case, though, as Calare’s best chance of becoming relevant in the federal sphere is for the electorate to finally become a marginal seat.
If, against the odds, that happens, then we’ll all have something to celebrate.