Despite the steady rain, Liberal candidate Steve Brooks was happily heading off to stand outside pre-poll on Thursday morning.
A week into early voting he’s relaxed and satisfied with his campaign so far and the response from early voters.
“It has been good, I couldn’t have asked for a better start in terms of feedback,” he said.
The 38-year-old teacher, businessman and farmer from Cobram has risen to the challenge of speaking to people across the Nicholls electorate. He said those conversations had reinforced the issues the community faced.
“What I continue to put forward is that there is substance behind what I’m talking about,” he said.
Mr Brooks maintains that being a politician is not his motivation for running, he just sees it as a means to an end, and that end is serving his community and making it a better place.
Having travelled the length and breadth of the electorate, he said people generally didn’t want government in their lives unless there was a problem to be fixed or a need to be filled.
“I think the whole electorate enjoys regional living and they are just expecting that services and critical infrastructure is delivered by government — it isn’t more complex than that,” he said.
Water, access to GPs and priority infrastructure have been the hallmarks of a localised campaign.
“The issues are pretty much the same as what I was thinking but I’m glad I have had all those conversations, regardless of the outcome, I have had such a great time talking to people,” he said.
Senior Liberals have joined the campaign at times but Mr Brooks said it had been a predominantly local effort.
“I certainly don’t feel like the unloved cousin of the coalition but as good as it is to have ministerial support, I’m the candidate and people want to be able to talk to me,” he said.
“You get pulled in a lot of directions, but I’ve learned that I can only be in one place at a time. I hope that what I’ve conveyed is that I’m standing because I think I can do a great job for the community.
“My simple message is that the candidates in Nicholls are applying for this job, and just like any job interview you need to measure them against their experience and capacity to deliver.”
Mr Brooks said while he had been keeping an eye on the national campaign, the daily news cycle tended to drag the discussion away from the conversations voters were having around the kitchen table.
“This whole campaign has made me even more certain that I can do this job well — I have a genuine desire to serve the community,” he said.
“For the next week I will be getting around to all the pre-poll booths and continuing to do what I’ve done since I was endorsed, which is talking to people.”
Mr Brooks said the electorate was engaged, and that voters were alive to the concept they were being fought over, which he said was the consequence of Damian Drum’s retirement and not the presence of an independent candidate.
He said he had considered the prospect of entering parliament as part of the opposition.
“Having a strong opposition is just as important,” he said.
“I’ll leave that for voters to decide, but our campaign has been about credentials, conviction and substance.”