The Victorian seat of Wannon is shaping up as a crucial battleground in the upcoming federal election, with Liberal incumbent Dan Tehan facing a serious challenge from independent candidate Alex Dyson. This article delves into the campaign, highlighting the key issues and contrasting the backgrounds and approaches of the two candidates.
Marginal seats are causing concern for both major parties but it's the 'insurgents' they need to watch out for. It's a rainy Saturday morning in Warrnambool where a group of dog walkers have braved the miserable weather for independent candidate Alex Dyson . Dressed in pumpkin-orange T-shirts with matching bandanas for their dogs, the crowd winds its way along a beachside track, marching in support of Dyson's third attempt to win the Victorian seat of Wannon .
'We've got more dogs here today than volunteers on my first campaign,' Dyson, a comedian and former triple j radio host, said. Despite launching that campaign while DJing at the local nightclub, Dyson won 10.4 percent of the vote. At the last election this almost doubled, leaving the Liberal Party's Dan Tehan with an uncomfortably thin 3.8 percent margin. The latest polling shows the seat, once held by Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser, is shaping up as a tight race. And this time around the 36-year-old Dyson has merch, the electoral machine and, most importantly, the money to push the Liberals all the way. Dyson has raised just over $200,000, half of this from Climate 200, the fundraising group run by Melbourne businessman Simon Holmes à Court. That's because the seat, which takes in Victoria's famous surf coast, prime farming land around Hamilton, and regional centres such as Colac, neatly captures the challenges facing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is struggling to hold Labor's traditional base in the outer suburbs, Dutton is fighting to retain seats once considered unlosable. In these electorates, the Liberals are facing community independents who are better funded and better organised than ever before. Climate 200 is backing candidates in 30 electorates across the country and is expected to hand out $10 million. That's still far less than the major parties throw at elections, but it has forced the Coalition to fight on two fronts. It can't just target the 20 marginal seats held by Labor; the Coalition is also being forced to play defence in at least five of its own electorates. Seats like Bradfield on Sydney's North Shore, Cowper on the NSW north coast, and regional Victorian seats like Monash, and Wannon are all on margins of less than 4 percent. The Liberals already need to pick up a hefty 19 seats to win majority government. And in Wannon, Dan Tehan says the voters understand what's at stake. 'I think people know that if I'm not elected here, that's one seat more that has to be won somewhere else for us to form government,' he said. Dyson frames the contest very differently. His pitch is that both the major parties have ignored Wannon and if the predicted hung parliament eventuates, an independent like himself will have significant leverage. As the campaign heats up, the electorate is getting to know two very different candidates. Their differences go well beyond the age gap — Tehan is 21 years older. While Dyson has never been elected to office, Tehan has held three different cabinet posts during his 14 years in federal parliament and would be a senior member of any Dutton government. He's the Coalition's immigration spokesman and prior to entering politics worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Dyson went to Warrnambool High and does not come from a political family. By contrast, Tehan attended Melbourne's prestigious Xavier College, his mother was Victoria's health minister, and his grandfather helped to establish the National Farmers Federation. Dyson marked himself firmly as a political outsider in 2019 when his policies were spelt out via interpretative dance. That video went viral, even being picked up by the BBC, and launched Dyson's political career. 'It's about not taking myself seriously, but taking the issues seriously of the electorate,' Dyson said. Tehan says he's not focused on Dyson, as he's had 'all sorts of colourful candidates' run against him over the years. The Liberal Party machine does, however, appear worried. It has twice mailed households in the electorate, depicting Dyson as a closet Greens candidate. 'It's pretty insidious because they're lies. I've never had any association with any party,' Dyson said. The Liberals have also been digging into Dyson's past at triple j and a segment from 2012 which asked callers to link an everyday item to Hitler and where a Holocaust joke was made. As part of this segment Dyson's co-host, Tom Ballard, made a tasteless joke for which he later apologised. Dyson, who cut to another segment as Ballard was speaking, says he regrets not intervening sooner. 'I'm disappointed that the wounds caused by Tom's comment are being reopened for political purposes,' Dyson said
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