We had to wait a bit, but One Nation’s entry into the Ovens Valley race has turned up the heat on what will be an intriguing couple of months before we hit the polls. James Rouel may be from the neighbouring Yarrawonga community, but no doubt there are plenty of people here in Wangaratta who have been swept up in the fast-spreading movement of the party in recent months. Since we haven’t had the chance to speak with Mr Rouel yet, we don’t know much about him or what he intends to bring to the region if he is elected, which is somewhat disappointing. Hopefully, we'll get that chance soon - because Ovens Valley voters deserve to know exactly where every candidate stands. Steve Manning came out and declared Ovens Valley was no longer a safe seat when he put his hand up as an independent, and results across the country may give us reason to believe it. One Nation has been on the forefront of this after claiming its first federal seat in the Farrer by-election and then taking state seats in South Australia and Western Australia, including a by-election in Secret Harbour which had been a Labor stronghold since 1989. The Coalition and Mr McCurdy himself know there was no such thing as a safe seat anymore, and if their recent activity tells us anything, they are not sitting on their hands about it. We’ll be keeping a close eye on preferencing from the major parties when they come out, particularly One Nation and the Nationals’ Party as we find out how that will impact the sitting member.
