THE Nationals’ seven-decade hold on the seat of Mallee would not be “taken for granted” as the federal election nears, party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has said during a flying visit to Mildura, his second in three months.
Sitting member Anne Webster stood alongside Mr Joyce on the Mildura riverfront on Tuesday as he announced a pledge of $13.5 million to extend the planned Murray River Adventure Trail from Mildura to Yelta, then immediately flew out of the district.
The walking and cycling path, already partly funded by the Victorian Government and slated for first works next year, had been planned to run continuously from Hume Weir, at the eastern end of the river, to Mildura.
The federal funding will go to Mildura Rural City Council, which will manage local works to extend it beyond Merbein.
Mr Joyce lavished praise on Dr Webster for “winning” the funding, joked that she was “a pest” in her tenacity to obtain funds for the region and said the party was not taking her hold on the seat for granted.
Mallee is still generally regarded as a safe seat for the Nationals but, on first-preference votes, the party suffered a substantial swing away from it at the 2019 election. It is not yet clear what, if any, effect the rise in popularity of conservative small parties and independents will have on the Nationals’ traditional share of the vote.
“I never think that any seat is safe, I don’t take anyone’s vote for granted,” Mr Joyce said.
“I know that Anne does not take anything for granted and Anne is tenacious, she understands her electorate and she is a total and utter pest in continually calling me up and and fighting for her area. That’s good, because that’s what good members do.
“I think that Anne is well and truly across her brief and she doesn’t need any pastoral care from me. I’m here to work with Anne, not as any form of guidance.”
He said that if any need for funding was identified in Mallee, Dr Webster would be “all over it like a bad suit”.
“We’re colleagues and we work together for the betterment of this seat of Mallee,” he said.
Clearly in campaign mode, Mr Joyce spent much of his Mildura press conference talking up the Coalition’s policies on defence and infrastructure, and criticising the Opposition’s campaign, which he described a “disaster”.
He likened watching Labor’s campaign to following the Hollywood libel case of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, who he famously clashed with when they illegally brought their pet dogs to Australia. Asked if he had been paying particular attention to that case, he admitted he had been following it on Tik Tok.
Asked if he had consulted with Labor about the trail funding, in line with caretaker-government conventions during an election campaign, he said he had not and that the Opposition was welcome to make its own commitment.
Works on the trail are not expected to begin until next year and the first stage will be from Barmah to Koondrook.
