Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed has found herself in a campaign like neither of the two she has run and won before.
Ms Sheed sits as the incumbent and under more pressure than in her last race, in 2018, but the landscape has changed, literally as well as metaphorically, after floodwater washed across most of the electorate just five weeks out from polling day.
It’s changed her job, with Ms Sheed spending more time involved in flood recovery and less on the campaign trail, and also how the electorate is viewing the approaching election, with many yet to engage fully.
“I haven't had a sense that voters are engaged with the election; many are traumatised, many still have water across their farms,” she said.
Ms Sheed said that didn’t mean she was flagging ahead of a potential third term.
“I’ve got plenty left in the tank,” she said confidently.
Ms Sheed said the list of projects Shepparton and the region had secured over her two terms was encouragement to continue, as was the scope for independents to be successful outside the ‘teal’ seats in metropolitan areas.
“I would say that the two independent regional seats beyond the government have been able to attract more attention and more investment than any of the others represented by major parties,” she said.
“One of the reasons why I'm standing again, is because so many people can see that value and I haven't yet found a successor.
"For regional independents it's really raw, it's basic, it's on-the-ground stuff that we need to make our community a liveable community.“
How does Ms Sheed rate the last term under the current government?
“Certainly for Shepparton, it’s been a good time; I think we’ve been able to put the spotlight on a lot of things and get a lot of investment, which was clearly needed,” she said.
"The government hasn’t always dealt with the pandemic well, and they'll no doubt admit that along the way; I think we should have a royal commission into the way the pandemic was handled.
"It wouldn’t have been easy, whoever was in power.”
Ms Sheed voted against the emergency declaration when it first came in, siding with the Coalition, before supporting the government’s extension of the powers.
She said the idea she was a Labor stooge was laughable.
"I just find it extraordinary that the Coalition has been so vitriolic towards an independent member in that way ... saying a vote for independents is a vote for Daniel Andrews,” she said.
“They must think people are stupid.
"Daniel Andrews has had a 22-seat majority — he's never needed my vote. He's never asked for my vote.“
What if he does? What if, despite the polls predicting a win for Labor, Mr Andrews and Matthew Guy both come calling for Ms Sheed’s vote to split a hung parliament?
"The things that I want are all related to the way Parliament's run and integrity issues, so that if I get a call from Matthew Guy and Daniel Andrews, I'll be wanting some attention on all those things,” she said.
She said there may be a number of independents from regional or state areas, which would change how she might approach a deciding vote.
Ms Sheed has for years been fighting for non-government business to be allowed in Victorian Parliament, with currently only the government able to bring motions and amendments to the floor, “fundamentally” changing the way Parliament operates.
She said it would “have the capacity to hold the government to account and if they’re good, stand out”.
Ms Sheed said roads and funding for a car park and rural medical school at GV Health were her two biggest priorities should she be returned to Spring St in two weeks’ time.
GV Health’s huge shortage of workers needs to be tackled, and Ms Sheed said ensuring it was a better place to work by providing a car park instead of forcing nurses and doctors to park on suburban streets, and funding the pipeline for students to study and learn here, would be a big help.
She said roads urgently needed to be fixed.
Opening more land and alleviating the rental and housing crunch were also priorities, Ms Sheed said.
“It’s every level of housing, some higher density housing in town too,” she said.
“If you’ve got access to houses, good education and health services then you’ve got people well on the way to moving up here.”
Ms Sheed lists the Greater Shepparton Secondary College as one of her achievements in Parliament, with 2022 the first year the school was open on one consolidated campus.
“It’s been a tough start through moving into three campuses while the main campus was built, then through floods and lockdowns and home schooling,” she said.
Ms Sheed said “it was always worth exploring” new ideas, including a second secondary school, but she slammed the Coalition for allowing the four schools to fall into a state of disrepair.
“That school (Mooroopna Secondary College) was allowed to run down to around about 300 students by the time it was shut,” she said.
Ms Sheed has advocated for using the site as a hub, including parts as a farming school and an arts hub with a revamped Riverlinks Westside, as opposed to a new school.