At the 2022 Federal Elections large numbers of Nicholls electors gave their support to an Independent Candidate, Rob Priestly. Rob won some key polling booths, and turned Nicholls from one of the safest conservative seats to being marginal. This was a significant achievement for him and the large team of volunteers who supported his campaign. He dared to challenge an entrenched well-oiled party machine, who fought desperately, and not always fairly, for every vote. Rob Priestly was by far the best candidate. But, party loyalty, the habit of always voting National and the preferences of Liberal Party supporters saw Sam Birrell elected. As a result, Nicholls has yet again been safely ignored by federal decision-makers. Our seat has been ineffectively represented in the last parliament but is still not considered at risk. We only need to look at neighbouring Indi to see what a hard-working independent representative can achieve and when we compare Sam Birrell and Helen Haines voting patterns and attendance, it’s easy to see who is representing their constituents better.

What happened in this seat in 2022 occurred in many electorates.Why did the independent candidates of 2022 attract such strong support? We think it was partly because there is a growing recognition that safe seats are treated differently, and that parties who hold power often become lazy and full of people attracted to the power, and not the desire to serve their community. There was also a clear frustration in the electorate that the public was not being heard when issues of integrity, honesty, fairness, evidence-based policy priorities or the environment were raised. 

So, where does a supporter of better government go when deciding their vote in 2025?

In Nicholls there are two major party options, the current National Party Member, Sam Birrell, or the ALP Candidate, Kim Travers, as well as a number of other minor party, single issue candidates.

A return to majority support for the National Party will be seen by them as vindication of the status quo: ie ”Change is not needed or wanted here”. Support for other candidates will be seen as a vote for something different but voters must be aware of the backroom preference deals now being done, particularly by the Nationals with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and other fringe groups. As always it is up to each elector to decide their vote, both first and subsequent preferences but a vote for a candidate other than the Nationals, for someone whose values align more closely with yours, will show dissatisfaction with Sam Birrell and the National Party. It will warn the Nationals that voters of Nicholls want more from our federal representative. Each of us should vote based on our values, and if you are still unclear about what each of the candidates truly represents, you can use tools such as Build a Ballot.

As a close result as possible will show that the Nicholls electorate is not happy with what happens when the Nationals hold our seat. It will demonstrate that Nicholls is a winnable seat at the next election. We will all benefit if Nicholls is made marginal at this election. Voices for Nicholls will be making every effort to stand a community independent candidate in 2028. In the meantime, we will hold whoever wins the seat at the coming poll accountable, throughout their term.

Join Voices for Nicholls to give our electorate a better chance of representation www.voicesfornicholls.com/join