Helen Haines will be in good position to retain her seat of Indi at the next election, despite some competitive campaigning from Coalition candidates in the electorate over the last few weeks.
La Trobe University adjunct research fellow and regional politics expert Ian Tulloch said despite a swing against Helen Haines after taking on the seat from fellow independent Cathy McGowan at the last election, she had become more widely known over the last term.
"As well as being widely known, Helen Haines is also very respected given the stance made on a few issues of integrity in the federal parliament in this term," he said.
"So while her seat is marginal, the Liberals will be putting up a fierce fight with a well funded campaign, but I'd be extremely surprised if Helen Haines lost this seat."
Indi makes up the vast majority of north-east Victoria and encompasses the larger cities of Wodonga and Wangaratta and smaller hubs like Glenrowan, Benalla and Euroa.
The electorate also includes the towns of Mansfield, Bright, and Myrtleford and much of the Victorian snowfields.
Due to Coalition rules, a candidate from the National and Liberal parties will contest the seat with Ross Lyman from the Liberals looking to be the most significant challenger to Dr Haines.
Mr Lyman is a former army commando who has been previously stationed in Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan.
Since leaving the defence force, he has held top positions in viticulture, working as an executive at Treasury Wine Estates and as a senior executive at McWilliam's Wines Group in the Riverina.
He has also worked on state and federal infrastructure health and defence projects, working as a management consultant at KPMG and Ernst and Young.
READ MORE:
The Nationals have put up Liz Fisher as a candidate in the electorate.
She owns a farm with her husband in Browns Plaines and works as a local project manager in regional development.
Mr Tulloch said the Liberal's campaign in Indi would have a similar theme with other mainly metropolitan seats where other high profile independent candidates are standing.
"Liberals have been more or less looking at the so-called 'teal' independent and are painting them as left wing and closely aligned with Labor," Mr Tulloch said.
"But Helen Haines has demonstrated pretty clearly through her term that she is a genuine independent and not at all closely associated with Labor even though she did vote with them on issues of integrity."
Mr Tulloch said the National and Liberal candidates running would have more benefits for the Coalition, rather than splitting the conservative vote in the region.
"I think they closely preference each other and given the make up of the seat, I think it actually benefits the conservatives to have both the Libs and Nationals standing," Mr Tulloch said.
"If there was no Nationals candidate in Indi, some of those rural voters would probably not vote for the Liberals and would have instead put votes toward One Nation or even Labor."
All three candidates have some background in agriculture - Dr Haines also runs a farm in the electorate
The campaign on the ground has seen several forums in Indi communities, including Wangaratta, Benalla, Alexandra, Euroa and even an online forum hosted by News Corp.
Local issues like infrastructure, telecommunications connectivity and health services being a prime focus in those debates as well as more national issues including the establishing of an integrity commission.
On an agricultural scope, Dr Haines has also announced a plan to establish a network of 200 agricultural extension officers located in regional hubs throughout the country to work with individual farms on implementing emissions reduction strategies.
"Regional Australians understand we have the most to gain from transitioning to net zero emissions," Ms Haines said.
"But it needs to be done right, and our agriculture sector needs a roadmap to get there.
"Right now, the government has given us a target but zero plans or policies."
The Coalition have continued to focus on their national agricultural perspectives, advocating their newly established agriculture visa through the electorate.
Ten candidates in total will run for Indi with Labor, the Greens, One Nation, UAP, Liberal Democrats, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party and the Animal Justice Party also fielding candidates.
Want daily highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the Stock & Land newsletter below.
