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Welcome to Wannon: Inside the challenge for a Liberal Party jewel · Inside Politics

• 0:00
  S1: From the newsrooms of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
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  S1: This is inside politics. I'm Jacqueline Maley, it's Friday, the
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  S1: 2nd of May. Today we bring you a special episode
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  S1: recorded in the south west Victorian electorate of Wannon. The
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  S1: seat encompasses tourist towns from Lorne along the Great Ocean
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  S1: Road to Warrnambool and all the way to the South
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  S1: Australian border. And who better to tell the evolving story
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  S1: of Wannon than our associate editor and special writer, Tony Risch?
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  S1: He was born in Heywood, grew up on sheep and
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  S1: cattle properties in the Western District, went to school in Hamilton,
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  S1: started his career in small newspapers in Portland, Warrnambool and Camperdown,
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  S1: and still has a house near Portland. Our audio producer
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  S1: Julia Katzel joins Tony on the road.
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  S2: As part of their marginal seats across the country fight
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  S2: for every last vote.
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  S3: So where are we headed right now, Tony?
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  S4: We're headed from Cavendish, towards the outskirts of Hamilton, where
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  S4: Mark Wooten and his wife Eve Kantor have a very
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  S4: huge grazing operation, and they have decided to support Alex
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  S4: Dyson and they have become the second biggest donors to
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  S4: his campaign. I believe they've put $100,000 in, which for
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  S4: a lot of neighbors is quite a shock that a
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  S4: big grazier of the Hamilton area would not be supporting
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  S4: Dan Tehan, but instead would be supporting somebody like Alex Dyson.
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  S4: It looks, if you were to believe polls, that Alex
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  S4: Dyson has pulled ahead. The last YouGov poll had Alex
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  S4: Dyson just slightly ahead of the sitting member, Dan Tehan. So, um,
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  S4: that's in itself an extraordinary figure, I suppose.
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  S5: Are you struggling with childcare? You are not alone, because
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  S5: in south west Victoria and a lot of regional communities
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  S5: around Australia, We are in a childcare desert because Australia.
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  S6: South west Victoria have made their voices clear. They don't
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  S6: want Labor's offshore wind farm zone forced upon them. Our
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  S6: local communities in Warrnambool and Port Fairy treasure their coastline.
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  S4: From here came Alex Dyson with a very powerful campaign. Well,
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  S4: well supported with money, probably $1 million. He got about
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  S4: a thousand volunteers to knock on doors. He set up
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  S4: offices right around the electorate. If at this election, the
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  S4: liberals lose this seat, particularly to a young independent who
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  S4: they've tried to suggest is a bit of a fool,
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  S4: it'll be a huge loss for the Liberal Party because
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  S4: it's their their duel in the rural crown, really, certainly
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  S4: in Victoria. The National Party has a lot of seats
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  S4: in in the bush. But the Liberal Party's got this
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  S4: one and it is an enormous one.
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  S7: Hi, Tony. Yes, Mark. Mark. Julia. Well, this is very pleasant.
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  S7: We've got a little bit of rain. We've been here
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  S7: nearly 29 years, and I think this is the toughest election. Yeah.
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  S7: Even through the drought. I can't really remember.
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  S4: You'd be the second biggest funder of Alex, wouldn't you?
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  S7: I think we would be, yeah. Other than climate.
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  S4: Climate 200 is first. Could I ask why you've, um,
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  S4: decided on Alex? Over. Dan?
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  S8: Well, he came to visit us, and we found because
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  S8: we're fairly open minded. Um, and we found him to
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  S8: be incredibly genuine. Not a roaring radical, All open minded,
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  S8: seem to be keen on listening to people's needs and
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  S8: that just appealed to us.
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  S4: You're a niece of Rupert Murdoch, right? How is your mother?
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  S8: He's my. He was my my mum's elder brother.
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  S7: Right.
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  S4: How do you reckon Rupert would go with the idea
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  S4: that you're going for a what one might call a
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  S4: teal independent against the Liberal Party in western Victoria?
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  S8: That would be a misunderstanding, because it wouldn't be that
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  S8: we're going for a teal independent. But, um, I don't
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  S8: think that he'd be that interested either way.
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  S7: But the other the other reason is and that's where
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  S7: I did separate some I think the Nats, um, in
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  S7: Victoria do listen to their constituents. I don't think the
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  S7: Liberal Party in Victoria do. And I think that's been reflected.
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  S7: It's been a very urban based, um, decision making body.
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  S7: And that's one of the frustrations that I think a
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  S7: lot of rural people have and why India's been so successful. Mhm.
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  S7: And because people want a genuine voice that represents what
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  S7: is a different voice than, than the rest of those parties.
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  S7: And that's where I think Alex Dyson's a really interesting
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  S7: one because he, he is, he's born and bred in
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  S7: Warrnambool and he does understand, you know, the issues here ironically.
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  S7: You know people say he's not there. Well Dan was
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  S7: team was helicoptered and dropped in here. You know he's
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  S7: an absolute Liberal Party machine man. So there's there's no question.
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  S7: And I'm not suggesting Dan couldn't have been, um, sympathetic
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  S7: to understanding that the electorate as well. So I'm not
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  S7: pigheaded about that. But I think that is one of
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  S7: the differences is I think the Liberal Party really has
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  S7: disengaged with its rural base, putting aside the anti Liberal Party,
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  S7: pro prone liberal party, whatever. Your view is just to
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  S7: be self-serving as an electorate, I think people are going,
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  S7: we want to be noticed and we want to be
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  S7: able to have some a bit of a bigger slice
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  S7: of that pie than what we've been in the past.
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  S7: And we have neighbors here who have dad teen signs
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  S7: up opposite our Alex Dyson signs. But it's quite good banter,
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  S7: you know, there's nothing we're not ripping down. But the
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  S7: election will finish. No matter what ever happens. We will
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  S7: sit down with them and we'll go to the pub
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  S7: when we see them, and we'll talk about whatever we
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  S7: talk about.
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  S4: That's your neighbors. Of course. Others have come and taken
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  S4: your sign.
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  S7: Well, we've lost four of our signs. And for everyone
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  S7: they've taken, we've put two more up. So we now
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  S7: have where we had, they would have had to put
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  S7: up with four, but now they have to put up
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  S7: with eight.
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  S3: Okay, so we've just wrapped up our interview with Mark
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  S3: Wootton and Eve Cantor. And was there anything you took
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  S3: away from from what they said to us or told
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  S3: us about the campaign?
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  S4: I think probably the most interesting thing was that they
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  S4: said that Alex Dyson came and knocked on their door
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  S4: and talked to them at great length, and admitted that
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  S4: he knew nothing about agriculture at that point. And then
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  S4: he came back and back and and learnt quite a lot. Um,
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  S4: they're environmental farmers, if you like. Um, and so that
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  S4: melds pretty well with somebody who's being supported very heavily
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  S4: by climate 200. Where we are is very much a
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  S4: grain growing area. It's it's flat and broad, um, and
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  S4: easily tilled. And it grows a lot of grain. You
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  S4: see silos everywhere south of here and further west, it's
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  S4: more considered grazing land. Um, grazing of of sheep for wool. Very,
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  S4: very rich wool growing area. Grazing of cattle. And then
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  S4: to the east. If you go almost to Geelong, there
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  S4: is Colac, which has got a number of industries in it.
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  S4: And then you go down to Lorne. The far east
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  S4: of this vast electorate, which is a very rich tourism
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  S4: area by the sea. And it's really the start of
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  S4: the Great Ocean Road, which winds its way around the
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  S4: southern edges of the electorate, or western Victoria, if you like,
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  S4: all the way after you continue through Warrnambool and Port
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  S4: Fairy and Portland, all the way to the South Australian
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  S4: border and then up to the Grampians. So it's a
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  S4: vast and very diverse place. I find it very beautiful.
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  S3: And we're about to drive to David Robertson's place. He's
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  S3: also a farmer and he's a Liberal supporter. Can you
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  S3: tell us more about him?
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  S4: Yeah. David has been a property owner near Hamilton, out
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  S4: of Coleraine for a long time, and has built a
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  S4: very big operation out there. He's now retired and his
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  S4: son has taken over. He's also been for several years
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  S4: the mayor of the Southern Grampians Shire, which covers that
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  S4: sort of area that traditionally has been liberal grazing territory,
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  S4: I suppose you might say.
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  S3: And I believe he worked under Malcolm Fraser at one point,
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  S3: didn't he?
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  S4: He was a jackaroo on, uh, on Noreen, which was
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  S4: the Fraser property when he was very young. A long
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  S4: time ago. He never worked for him as a political
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  S4: adviser or otherwise. He was just a jackaroo on the
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  S4: property and then went on and built his own properties.
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  S4: And he. He's already told me that he is supporting
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  S4: Dan Tehan, but we'll find out whether he believes that
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  S4: Dan Tehan can win, or whether things have changed to
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  S4: the point where it could change to Alex Dyson. What
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  S4: years were you mayor?
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  S9: Oh, last year and the year before? It's not my scene,
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  S9: but going for four years to Canberra and four years
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  S9: down to Melbourne to talk to these politicians. I have
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  S9: some understanding of of how the system works. And so
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  S9: now comes this election. I fully understand the garbage that's
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  S9: coming out of Dyson's mouth. He's never promised anything, but
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  S9: he said, I'll fix the roads. Typical teal as teals do.
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  S9: They pick out popular subjects, which they did in Frydenberg
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  S9: and all these other ones roads, childcare and housing shortage.
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  S9: They're all state issues.
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  S4: Dan would be able to do it well.
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  S9: Dan has achieved a lot of things over the time.
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  S9: He's had what, three senior portfolios trade, education, anti immigration
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  S9: and um but still he's there. He's respected by both
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  S9: sides of the fence. The only trouble is Dyson doesn't
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  S9: live here. He might have been born here. He flies
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  S9: back for elections. He's we've never seen him here before
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  S9: except for this election. So he the last election? Oh, yeah.
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  S9: For a week or two. Yeah. This. This. But he's
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  S9: been here for six, eight months now and spent $1 million,
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  S9: you know. So. But he doesn't he's not like Dan Graphics.
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  S9: Well yeah I'm not sure what the demographics have changed,
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  S9: but the younger group here, they've never seen a bad time.
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  S9: It's been pretty good this whole 25 years of this
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  S9: early century.
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  S4: You reckon that Alex Tyson's going to win?
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  S9: Yep.
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  S4: What will happen then to woman in your view?
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  S9: Oh, look, there's I wrote a letter to the editor
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  S9: there a while ago. There's two things about this election.
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  S9: One is I think the most important thing is that
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  S9: we have a strong government with strong leadership. And I
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  S9: think the more independence we have, the less likely we're
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  S9: going to have of strong leadership and a strong government.
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  S9: They're always going to be. The second thing is, I think,
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  S9: is my backyard. So everybody's got a personal interest here. Oh,
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  S9: we need our roads better. Have you driven the roads
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  S9: on the rest of Australia? No, but my roads are
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  S9: the worst. They are, you know. So we need childcare,
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  S9: we need more housing. We need better roads. We want this,
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  S9: this and this. And so you come down to your
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  S9: personal issues down here. And I think that, yes, we
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  S9: will be in the political wilderness to some degree. And
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  S9: I think if Dyson gets in, yes, we won't have. Well,
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  S9: he'll never be in government. So we'll never have a
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  S9: senior minister or prime minister or speaker of the House
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  S9: or what we've had in the past. Someone who's there
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  S9: can say, hey, I'm the member down there, I want
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  S9: this and is right there beside the treasurer, or he's
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  S9: in opposition talking to them about the problem. This person's
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  S9: over here in the Crossbenches one one lone voice.
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  S3: Okay, Tony, we've just wrapped up with David. Any takeaways
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  S3: from that interview?
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  S4: The biggest takeaway I had was that he supports Dan Tehan,
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  S4: but he's gone off to a betting shop and has
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  S4: put money on Alex Dyson because he says there's no
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  S4: doubt in his mind that he's going to win this election. Well, um,
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  S4: when you've got a, I suppose, a lifetime Liberal supporter
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  S4: who supports Dan Tehan, who's going off to put money
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  S4: on the challenger. Um, there's trouble ahead for Dan Tehan,
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  S4: I think this weekend.
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  S3: I believe he said he wanted something to celebrate on Saturday.
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  S4: That's right. He did? It was a bit tongue in cheek,
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  S4: of course.
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  S3: Our last stop on this little campaign bus of ours,
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  S3: with you as the tour guide, is the races.
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  S4: It's a big event in Warrnambool, and. And it's a
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  S4: big event for the entire Western District. It's the the
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  S4: Grand National meeting. It goes over several days and thousands
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  S4: of people come from all over the place. It's a very,
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  S4: very old race meeting. It goes right back to 1847.
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  S4: They still have the longest steeplechase race over 33 jumps
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  S4: in the in the nation.
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  S10: But I think it's is probably the end of the night.
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  S4: The Warrnambool races. The May meeting is a very big
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  S4: one and it says this is purely Western district.
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  S3: So, Tony, I know you said you weren't going to
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  S3: make any predictions for this Saturday, but if this electorate
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  S3: does change hands for the first time in over 70 years,
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  S3: what does that say about the people here and what
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  S3: they want and the region more broadly?
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  S4: Well, I think what's happened is there's been a demographic change. Obviously,
• 15:23
  S4: young people are more drawn to change, if you like, though,
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  S4: you know, you've just mentioned 70 years. Nobody can really
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  S4: remember those 70 years except somebody like me who has
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  S4: been alive for a lot of them. There's that sort
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  S4: of feeling that they want something different? Um, there are
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  S4: those also who feel that the Liberal Party got too
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  S4: comfortable in Woden and didn't, uh, go out of its
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  S4: way to do the sort of things that are done
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  S4: in marginal seats, like the one right next door, Corangamite,
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  S4: which has got a $600 million duplication of a road.
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  S4: But I think also there is there is something above that,
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  S4: if you like, and that is this campaign in general.
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  S4: Peter Dutton hasn't been able to cut through. Um, it
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  S4: would appear people are more keen to hang on to
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  S4: what they've got or change to something they understand. There is,
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  S4: without doubt down here, a very big groundswell of support
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  S4: for change. I mean, you only have to go into
• 16:33
  S4: the pub as we did last night. Everyone we spoke
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  S4: to and a lot of them were my my old
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  S4: friends who have never imagined supporting an independent previously, just
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  S4: said as one. Alex Dyson will win this election. Well,
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  S4: I don't know whether they're right.
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  S3: Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see what
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  S3: happens this weekend.
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  S4: Exactly.
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  S1: Today's episode was produced by Julia Katzel. Our executive producer
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  S1: is Tami Mills, and Tom McKendrick is our head of audio.
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• 17:21
  S1: to us by visiting The Age or SMH. I'm Jacqueline Maley,
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  S1: thank you for listening.