Year in review 2022 | A look back at the year in federal politics

When Mooroopna businessman and City of Greater Shepparton Deputy Mayor Rob Priestly threw his hat in the ring as an independent, it became a genuine three-cornered contest.

Mr Priestly said he decided to stand to improve the representation of his community and concerns over the quality of our politics.

“I will push hard for the outcomes the community wants, and the party system is not delivering,” he said.

“This includes restrictions on gambling advertising, better Indigenous recognition, anti-corruption measures, net zero emissions and better standards of behaviour in parliament.”

Farmer and Cobram Secondary College teacher Stephen Brooks was endorsed as the Liberal candidate for Nicholls.

He listed water security, business development, the environment, employment, childcare, health, aged care, education, training and job pathways as his key areas of concern.

The Nationals preselected Sam Birrell as their candidate for Nicholls.

Mr Birrell, previously the chief executive of the Committee for Greater Shepparton, said “it is my role to listen to your views and ideas and to make sure that our leaders in Canberra hear what is important to our community”.

An election-focused budget

The federal budget was handed down earlier than usual, and it was a budget with both eyes firmly on the looming election.

The immediate measures to tackle the rising cost of living included a 22¢ cut in fuel excise, although it would not have flowed through to regional pumps until the next fuel delivery.

Mr Birrell and Mr Brooks both backed the Coalition’s budget for addressing the immediate needs of people struggling with cost-of-living pressures.

Mr Priestly focused on the lack of direct spending in the electorate on key projects and described the budget as “bitterly disappointing”.

He questioned whether previous Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce even knew where Victoria was, with $20 billion allocated to regional investment but the vast majority for infrastructure in mining regions or dams in Queensland and NSW.

Candidates ready as election called

Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared May 21 as 2022 Federal Election day, setting off races for 151 House of Representative electorates and half the Senate positions.

Mr Morrison visited the Governor-General’s office on Sunday, April 10 to have the writs issued for the election.

“I know Australians have been through a very tough time the last few years,” Mr Morrison said after officially calling the election.

“This election is about you, no-one else. It’s about our country and its future.”

The — at that stage — five official candidates in Nicholls were eager to go and were already months into campaigning.

Comprehensive candidates’ forum

Nine candidates for the seat of Nicholls met on stage on Tuesday, April 28 at Eastbank in Shepparton for a community forum.

The candidates’ forum was held by the Committee for Greater Shepparton, with chief executive Lindy Nieuwenhuizen and News chief correspondent Darren Linton hosting the event.

Nine of the 11 candidates for the seat were on stage, with more than 100 questions from the 200-strong audience condensed into the two-hour event.

Each candidate was given one minute to talk in response to each question, with some questions directed at individual candidates but most questions being answered across the board.

No one candidate landed a knockout blow, and no single issue dominated the evening.

Highs and lows of the campaign

The campaign in Nicholls, like around much of the country, centred on how much an independent could do for the region and about integrity of the major parties.

The campaign turned personal as it got closer to election day, with the Nationals sending targeted text messages and robocalls.

Shepparton, Echuca and the rest of Nicholls were swarming with politicians ahead of the May poll, with Coalition ministers, former deputy prime ministers and Senators all making their way to the region to stand alongside Mr Brooks and Mr Birrell at announcements.

One such stunt derailed, with Mr Birrell and three senior Nationals members planning to jump off the train at Shepparton Station to spruik their record on rail services.

The train never arrived, with the service cancelled, forcing Mr Birrell and co to arrive at the station by car to talk up a two-year-old funding announcement.

Mr Priestly ran a lower-key campaign, but had a notable election stunt at Wunghnu, releasing carrier pigeons with messages tied around their legs — racing the birds against text messages sent by residents to highlight the poor reception in the area.

Settled over a beer

For months they had battled each other, but as soon as the voting closed, the Nationals’ Sam Birrell, Liberal Steve Brooks and independent Rob Priestly caught up for a beer at Shepparton’s Terminus Hotel.

The private gathering was instigated by Mr Brooks and followed weeks of campaigning that included negative attacks by the Nationals on Mr Priestly that angered many in the electorate.

All three said it was an opportunity to clear the air, especially for Mr Birrell and Mr Priestly, who are friends and previously worked closely together through the Committee for Greater Shepparton.

Nationals hold on to Nicholls

The Nationals’ Sam Birrell headed to Canberra as the new Federal Member for Nicholls, but representing a marginal electorate and joining a party room in opposition.

Independent candidate Rob Priestly called Mr Birrell on Sunday, May 22, to concede — with the Nationals ahead by more than 7000 votes with 85,000 votes counted.

The 4.7 per cent margin was a fraction of that enjoyed by former member Damian Drum, who retired with a margin of 20 per cent.

“I feel tired, relieved and very humble and honoured,” Mr Birrell said on May 22.

“It was a tough campaign against some really high-quality candidates.”

Mr Birrell congratulated every candidate in Nicholls and said the issues confronting Nicholls, especially water, would be his priorities from day one.

“I need to pull the community together, those who supported me and those who didn’t,’’ he said.

Historic election fight

The face of Nicholls has changed for good — that was the view of independent candidate Rob Priestly despite calling his opponent to concede defeat on May 22.

Mr Priestly’s campaign event was a sea of orange at The Woolshed on election day, and before results were clear, volunteers were still jovial and excited after a gruelling months-long campaign.

Mr Priestly set out to break the Nationals’ stronghold on the seat and make Nicholls marginal.

Despite falling short of the win, he was convinced the seat was changing.

“It is not that far away that this seat is going to be highly contestable,” he said.

“Nicholls is not going to be taken for granted in the near future, I think that’s a really good outcome, and all of our campaign team and our community can be really proud of that change.”

However, Mr Priestly said the vote hadn’t unfolded the way he expected.

“We’re softer in Shepparton than I thought. We’ll still win Shepparton but not in the way that perhaps I thought, and they (Nationals) were stronger in the outlying booths than I thought,” he said.

He said the campaign’s nasty turn in the last week from the Nationals shaped votes, but they shifted both ways.

“There’s no doubt it had an impact, but it’s not all one way. Some of it drove people towards our campaign, and some of it drove away,” he said.

“There’s sort of a law of diminishing returns about it. I think it tends to scare older voters and erodes the future of voters.”

He also revealed he had been receiving the same robocalls and texts as everyone else, warning against “the dangers of independents”.