Issue #338 – Wednesday, 6 July, 2016
Albury Wodonga’s largest circulating newspaper
Life’s a challenge, all right “What I seem to enjoy out of life is that I love a challenge - and this certainly is a challenge.” This is the attitude of Michael Harrison, a 46-year-old man who endured an accident at age 18 causing him brain and spinal injuries that left him wheelchair-bound.
FOR MORE, SEE PAGE 5
She’s no king-maker By MONIQUE KUZEFF INDEPENDENT member Cathy McGowan has ruled out doing any deals with the major parties, after her win in Saturday’s Federal Election cast her in the role of potential king-maker. The victorious MP will say only that she wants to do what is in the best interests of her electorate, despite potentially holding the balance of power. The Independent repeated her victory against two-time Liberal opponent Sophie Mirabella - but this time she was 7059 votes ahead of Ms Mirabella, as opposed to only 439 votes in 2013. After a lengthy eight weeks of campaigning, the voice of the people of Indi was finally heard on Saturday. Although there are still about 10,000 pre-poll and postal votes to be counted, Ms McGowan remained confident of the current result and looked forward to heading into her second term as Indi’s MP. The 77 polling places across Indi showed a turnout of 78.10 per cent of which Ms McGowan (26,363 votes) won 54.64 per cent of combined votes and preferences on a two-candidate preferred (TCP) basis against Ms Mirabella’s (20,685 votes) or 45.36 per cent, suggesting stronger support from voters across the electorate to keep the seat “orange” this time. The Indi MP was “very pleased” with the result saying it was a “clear indication” of her approach to politics and that she looked forward to progressing the movement that she ignited in Indi. She thanked the 700 supporters and volunteers who ran her polling stations across the electorate, as well as her voters. “Thanks to the thousands of people who have put their trust in me to be the Independent Member for a second term,” Ms McGowan said. “I think the final result is a clear indication of our approach to politics and
Independent MP Cathy McGowan celebrated her victory after again winning the seat of Indi. what the community of Indi wants. “The clear message that I’ve got is that the people of Indi like our model and they want more of it.” Ms McGowan told NewsWeekly she believed she won because she had offered a “clear choice” to the people of Indi, saying her team had delivered a “fantastic” campaign that gave people the opportunity to get involved.
“I went into the election with a preprogram of what I wanted to do,” she said. “There were a variety of candidates and there was a wide choice but the majority of people chose me because they liked the idea of an Independent, a local person, standing up for them. “I have a belief that people really like to be involved in participatory de-
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mocracy and I gave them that opportunity and they want more of it.” After spending the campaign battling against Ms Mirabella, the Indi MP wished the Liberal contestant and her family well for the future. “She’s a tenacious campaigner and I wish her all the best for the future whatever she and her family choose to do.”
Ms McGowan said she would now spend her week focusing on the federal election and going around to communities to thank them for their support. As she moves into her new term she aims to approach issues surrounding regional education, health, infrastructure, black spots, renewable energy, transport and manufacturing. Continued page 2
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