ANDREW NIKOLIC and his challenger Ross Hart will soon discover the unforgiving booby traps in their Northern electorate.
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Bass has been cruel to predecessors. Good representatives like Warwick Smith were discarded because they didn’t dote. In Mr Smith’s case, discarded twice. Local members should forget ambitions of fame and fortune in Canberra. Neglect Bass at your peril.
The region is a fond mixture of old money and welfare. It has some of Tasmania’s wealthiest families, but a youth unemployment rate near 17 per cent. Half the inhabitants receive some form of government assistance.
The main employer is in health care and social assistance. Bass has a struggling labour force participation rate of 59.8 per cent, against a national average of about 65 per cent.
The electorate has been marginal to high risk in five of the past six federal elections. The incumbent, army brigadier and war veteran Andrew Nikolic holds the seat with a slim 4.04 per cent margin.
Even with strong military credentials and following one of Labor’s worst ever periods of government, Mr Nikolic still failed to make the seat any safer in 2013.
Bass is neither a Liberal nor Labor seat. Malcolm Turnbull dominates Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister, but that’s no comfort for the Nikolic camp.
Michael Ferguson cruised to victory in 2004 and did everything right, only to be swept away three years later. Past female candidates have complained of becoming victims of whispering campaigns.
Mr Nikolic says the Coalition has delivered $130 million for Bass so far, plus $1 billion for state infrastructure, $203 million for the Freight Equalisation Scheme and $60 million for irrigation.
“The 2016 Election will be about jobs and growth...I am also continuing to work hard to secure the resources needed to improve the health of the Tamar River. Very little rain during the last two years has made that job harder, but the $9 million we are investing in the River and adjoining areas has made a difference,” he said.
The Labor candidate Ross Hart, a well know Launceston lawyer, says he is focussed on jobs, education, health and the environment, in particular, the health of the Tamar River.
“The health of our Tamar River must be given priority to ensure that the antiquated sewerage systems are replaced with a contemporary system which is capable of addressing the likely future needs of Launceston city and its surrounds for the next 50 years or more,’ Mr Hart said.
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