A new poll from the progressive-leaning Australia Institute reveals One Nation is currently in the lead to win the four-way contest in the Farrer by-election on May 9.
The group engaged ucomms to poll over 1,200 voters in the vast regional New South Wales electorate previously held by former Liberal leader Sussan Ley, who resigned after losing a leadership challenge to Angus Taylor.
The poll found 28.7 percent of respondents would vote One Nation if the election were held “today.”
The next tier of support fell to Teal independent Michelle Milthorpe on 23.3 percent, followed by the Liberals (19.1 percent), Labor (9 percent), Nationals (5.2 percent), and the Greens (3.9 percent).
“While Farrer is literally the Liberals’ to lose, if One Nation can’t convert strong polling into parliamentary seats then it will be much harder for them to maintain momentum and voters interest.”
Denniss also reiterated a position of The Australia Institute on taxing gas exports.
“While there are major differences between the political parties contesting the by-election, one issue that unites voters is how strongly they agree that Australia is failing to get a fair share of the revenue from its gas exports, with 48 percent of voters strongly agreeing that gas exporters should pay a flat 25 percent tax on their exports, and a further 27 percent agreeing.”
So far, two of the major candidates have been confirmed for Farrer so far—Milthorpe, and One Nation’s David Farley.
Milthorpe says she is running on a platform of addressing water prices, mobile reception and medical care.
“I’ll focus on smarter water reform policies so irrigation industries across the Basin can prosper and communities in Farrer can thrive,” he said.
“I want to strengthen and revive regional hospitals, children’s healthcare and aged care facilities.”
