Independent candidate for Eden-Monaro Andrew Thaler was recently involved in a scuffle after a Snowy Monaro Council meeting. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
Eden-Monaro has proven to be a fascinating seat to watch in this federal election campaign, with incumbent Kristy McBain facing a field of mostly ultra-conservative contenders.
Ms McBain, Labor’s Regional Development, Local Government and Territories Minister, has a comfortable lead in opinion polls and a decent margin of just over 6 per cent, after just scraping in with less than a 1 per cent margin at the electorate’s 2020 by-election.
Her main opponent is the Liberal Party’s Jo van der Plaat, a lawyer and Cooma local.
Ms van der Plaat is well respected and has spoken up for the region’s public servants, despite Peter Dutton insisting that 41,000 will go if the Coalition wins office.
But it is her seemingly whole-hearted embrace of nuclear reactors – even though the Opposition Leader himself has been largely quiet on the issue through most of the campaign – that has seen Ms van der Plaat’s campaign take a hit.
The Liberal candidate said recently that she would personally support a nuclear power plant in Eden-Monaro.
Admitting that the view might surprise some voters, she added that it would ultimately be up to the community.
Recent YouGov polling also shows that Greens candidate Emma Goward has made some inroads, but she has been largely absent from the campaign due to a personal family tragedy.
That leaves a string of very conservative independents and candidates from minor right-wing parties.
And that’s where the campaign has proved to be more than entertaining.
That’s mostly thanks to independent Andrew Thaler, who drew the lucky first position on the ballot paper.
Mr Thaler is a Snowy Monaro Councillor, a former candidate for Eden-Monaro, and has long been a controversial figure.
The NSW Government’s Office of Local Government has investigated him over alleged breaches of a performance improvement order, with some fellow councillors and staff claiming he is causing health and safety issues for them.
More than 19 formal complaints had been lodged against him, accusing him of harassment, bullying and misconduct both in-person and online.
To obtain the performance improvement order, all 11 councillors had to sign it, and monthly reports to the state government are required for compliance with the order’s actions.
Some councillors will no longer be in the same council meetings with Mr Thaler.
Nationals’ NSW State MP Nichole Overall unloaded on Mr Thaler under parliamentary privilege, saying she had been the subject of verbal abuse from him and that Mr Thaler’s behaviour “undermined the integrity of local government”.
Mr Thaler responded on social media with his usual colourful and vulgar language.
Things at the Snowy Monaro Council came to a head at a recent council meeting, which reportedly ended up in a brawl and Mr Thaler being accused of drawing blood from a spectator outside the meeting while grappling over a mobile phone.
Police were called and have confirmed their attendance via a statement that said they were investigating a physical altercation between three men.
While some councillors and bystanders insist that Mr Thaler was the aggressor, the independent candidate for Eden-Monaro denies initiating the scuffle or delivering any rough treatment.
That’s what he has posted to his followers on Facebook, but he has used colourful language, telling reporters to leave him alone.
Of the other right-wingers in the contest, there is Fraser Buchanan from HEART, which is an anti-vax, anti-water-flouridation, climate change-denying minor party.
Wade Cox from Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots, Richard Graham from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, and independent Brian Fisher.
The concern for Labour is that with so many ultra-conservatives in the race, who really don’t stand any chance of actually being elected, too many of their preferences will flow to the Coalition.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
