AND the winner is ... Andrew Gee. The battle for preselection to contest the seat of Calare for The Nationals at the upcoming Federal election has been an ongoing stoush for months.
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Four hopefuls put their hand up for the honour of taking over from the incumbent John Cobb and have been busy lobbying for support since the sitting member announced his retirement from politics.
Orange MP Andrew Gee, Bathurst hopeful Sam Farraway, Orange butcher and councillor Scott Munro and Wellington councillor Alison Conn all sought the opportunity to represent Calare.
In the back of their minds would have been the knowledge that the new candidate would have every chance of winning an election in Calare, judging by the swing needed to lose the electorate.
With so much on the line there was great interest in Saturday’s showdown at Bathurst Panthers.
Indeed, with around 400 National Party members attending the preselection meeting, 385 of them eligible to vote, it was the biggest turnout at any preselection contest in the history of the NSW Nationals.
The event was held behind closed doors and the Western Advocate’s representative was not allowed to enter the auditorium until all the votes been counted and the winner announced.
It came as no surprise, however, that Mr Gee had the numbers to win preselection.
Sportsbet had him a $1.45 favourite on Friday afternoon, just ahead of Mr Farraway at $2.05.
While there is no doubt Mr Gee has the credentials to be a good performer at the national level, the major ramification of his jump from state to federal politics is that it will mean a by-election for his seat of Orange.
The cost of this has been touted as being around $450,000 of taxpayers’ money – a hefty price to pay for democracy.
Mr Gee doesn’t think it is, but many others may think otherwise.
