#MalleeVotes

LAST WEEK Guardian Australia’s rural and regional editor, Gabrielle Chan, coined the phrase the ‘The Barnaby Line’ and questioned whether in electorates south of this line, such as Nicholls and Mallee, Barnaby Joyce’s regional appeal was now in the negative “losing his MPs and candidates more votes than he attracts.” Mallee was a bit of […]

WHILE BARNABY JOYCE has been getting to know the real Scott Morrison, Mallee and Nicholls have been preparing the ground to, as the Indi mob say, rust-off. Alex Dyson in Wannon, who I think will be a big mover, launched his campaign over the weekend in a low key affair. The Haines Indi campaign hubs […]

COMMENT: Before jetting off to Glasgow via Rome, Scott Morrison was in full ‘fatherhood’ mode. As prime minister he pledged to shield the nation from the nasty side effects of committing to net zero emissions; and the cherry on top is that we’ll benefit from all the economic opportunities on offer. Maybe we’re even front […]

What if there was a climate emergency and the major party’s didn’t turn up? If you listen to many in mainstream media – what climate election? But they’re dead wrong. The Coalition and Labor Party failed to turn up – others didn’t and won victories or made strong inroads into the Coalition primary vote – […]

The electorate of Mallee, until now, has been the safest seat in the nation. Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) spoke with Independent candidate Ray Kingston (@MalleeRay) in the final days of his campaign. The National Party has been doing a heap of polling here, and they are acting like they are pretty concerned, so I will take […]

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum… ah, but which forum? That is the question. There have been so many since forum season started in Mildura an eternity ago, or so it seems. Since then there have been forums throughout the length and breadth of the electorate. Last Thursday was Horsham’s turn […]

Seven’s Sunrise program likes to have ‘personalities’ on to dissect the big issues of the day, which can turn out to be little more than: “Did you see that dress she wore?” On Saturday, one of the topics was the leaders’ debate the previous evening. Chris Smith bemoaned the fact that because it was on […]

In this No Fibs podcast I chat with climate action Independent Jason Modica who’s one of three Independents putting in a strong challenge in the safe National-held seat of Mallee. Last week I took a drive through the southern section of the Victorian electorate. Mallee is one of the bigger electorates in Australia. There is […]

There’s no question that for any Independent hoping to dislodge a Nat from a safe seat you have to get some of the rusted-ons to rust off. The theory is a lot easier than the practice. There are a few announcements coming on that front from the @malleeray camp but at this stage I can […]

I missed the first forum of the campaign in Mildura but got to Nhill. Let’s talk Nhill, I mentioned it briefly in the piece about Pyramid Hill but it is a truly remarkable community, another that has reversed its fortunes by embracing migrants and the economic opportunities they bring. At Nhill it is the Karen […]

I’ve been to a few election campaign launches over the journey: some slick, some frankly embarrassing, but I’ve never been to one like this. The Independent Voice for Mallee, Ray Kingston, chose the local bowling club at Rupanyup during the Dirt Music festival to make his case to be the next MP for the electorate. […]

Ray Kingston is one of three Independent candidates running for the rural seat of Mallee. Ray chats with Margo Kingston about why he’s running and what matters will be important when #Malleevotes

What do shouting at the television and gardening have in common? From little things big things have grown. Gather ’round people, let me tell you a story… or two. Whilst a television was not one of the perks of an Aboriginal stockman’s life in the Northern Territory in 1966, the story of Vincent Lingiari and […]

Back the Beard! Ray Kingston The Independent for Mallee will officially launch his campaign this Sunday, April 7, at 6pm live at the Rupanyup Bowling Club. If you can’t be there it will be live streamed here or you can watch it later at the same link. You’ve heard too much over the years from […]

It was a funny old week during which not a lot happened publicly, apart from preparations continuing behind the scenes for that moment Scomo says go! The big difference was that unlike last week — when it took a 6am start to allow time to drive over to Kerang and Pyramid Hill — this time […]

After a week in the shearing shed Ray Kingston (@MalleeRay) the Independent for Mallee kicked off Saturday in a cafe at Kerang just talking to people who wanted to have a chat about their concerns. Next came the Kerang Markets, which spread along the walkway in a lush park just across the road from the […]

The other weekend — as is my wont — I was reclining on the chaise longue at Chateau Lennon, a flute of Moet in hand, when the butler brought in the freshly-ironed copy of the The Saturday Paper. Its lead article was the tale of Damien Hodgkinson, the campaigner behind Phelps, Banks and Steggall. I […]

The Ballet of the Shearing Shed… I went to get these shots, it was my first visit to a shearing shed since I was a teenager and three things struck me: it was hot, it was busy and everyone knew their roles in a comparatively small space, moving with surprising speed and agility to get […]

Democracy is a funny thing. These days few would argue against the concept of one vote, one value. The age of the gerrymander is over, in Australia anyway. But in order to keep things straight the Australian Electoral Commission periodically reviews the boundaries of seats that get outside the margins. All well and good: democracy, […]

Before the why let’s have a look at the how. At the end of last year I was happily cruising to the end of my time at the ABC when the Andrew Broad scandal erupted. Our local MP in sex scandal. Well I never… and neither did anyone else! It just so happened that on […]

I’m running as the Independent for Mallee because I’m frustrated that our communities are being neglected, and I’m angry that while our leaders play games in Canberra the people of Mallee are missing out. As the truly Independent voice, as a leader with a proven track record of vision, innovation and advocacy, having led groundbreaking […]

This post kicks off regular #malleevotes blogs between now and the federal election. The seat of Mallee is a huge 81,962 square kilometres, or put another way if you jump in a car in Mildura at one end of the electorate and drive to Maryborough at the other, you won’t have much change out of […]

The way I see it, every safe Coalition seat must be in play in the sense that quality indies ask tough questions incumbents are forced to answer. That requires courageous indies & committed, creative citizens because a weakened local media can’t do it. Ready to play? #ausvotes — Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) February 22, 2019 Hi. […]