Less than 100 days to go, Ovens Valley race is on

Nationals’ Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy is pointing to his track record and experience in representing the region as he prepares to defend his seat from newly announced challengers. It’s now less than 100 days until 28 November’s state election and last week the electorate learnt of the incumbent's first challenger, in the form of Independent Steve Manning after being endorsed by Voices for Ovens Valley. Mr McCurdy said he welcomed the challenge, hopeful his experience in representing the electorate over the past four terms would hold him in good stead with voters. “I've been in a long while and I spread myself across the electorate from the small communities to the larger ones to make sure everybody knows that their voice is being heard,” he said. “We quite often see people come who want to get involved in elections, they're single-focused… they've got something that they specifically want to solve. “Places like Ovens Valley, it's a big spread from Cobram up to Mount Beauty, over to Falls Creek, Hotham, Harrietville, all those communities have different issues, so you've got to be flexible. “If you're living in Bright, for example, a hospital there, or trying to get improvements or aged care down in Myrtleford, there are so many issues you have to be across and that takes time.” Mr McCurdy argued that independent pre-selection processes closely resemble those of major political parties, referencing current federal Indi MP Helen Haines as an example of independent representation sometimes diverging from local views. "Helen voted in favour of the Voice when 67 per cent of her community voted against it," he said. "She hasn't been strong in the solar farm and solar factory space about renewable energy. "We've got to make sure we get people that understand there's a lot more to our community, and you've got to broaden yourself out to understand how tough farmers are doing it in this renewable space." Mr McCurdy said local energy developments, including a battery site in Dederang and solar farms near Glenrowan, required a balanced approach across the entire electorate. "Farmers are just getting gobbled up, and people are asking why they would want to live in these spots anymore," he said. "You’ve got to be across a lot of things, and that’s why we’ve just got to make sure that you’re fair to the whole community, not just one part of it." It’s anticipated One Nation will have a candidate in the electorate with the party announcing they would be running in every Victorian lower house seat while The Greens and Labor are also expected to be naming candidates for the seat. In the 2022 election, the Animal Justice Party, Liberal Democrats, Family First and Freedom Party of Victoria all ran candidates in Ovens Valley. Mr McCurdy hosted Liberal Shadow Minister for Housing, Planning and Building David Southwick in the electorate last week and recently campaigned alongside Nationals’ Leader Danny O’Brien and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson in the region.

Less than 100 days to go, Ovens Valley race is on

Wangaratta Chronicle, Wednesday, August 26, 2026

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