WORD has it that Wannon MP, Dan Tehan is increasingly concerned by the Alex Dyson Independent campaign that is in full throttle across the electorate at present.
The tussle is on between the two – so much so that the ABC’s Four Corners’ Angus Grigg was in town last week interviewing the incumbent as well as Mr Dyson and swinging voters that might otherwise be of conservative persuasion.
Mr Tehan confirmed he had been interviewed by the TV crew who filmed the MP at Lake Hamilton, at the Warrnambool Surf Lifesaving Club and at the Jericho Cup where he presented the whip to the winning jockey.
“A crew from ABC’s Four Corners was in the electorate over the weekend to interview me as part of an upcoming report on the 2025 election,” he said.
“I was proud to show the journalist our vibrant local communities and businesses in Hamilton and Warrnambool as we discussed the pressing need for the Federal and State Governments to stop cutting funding for our roads.”
Mr Dyson is having his third tilt at the seat after coming within four percent of Mr Tehan with the two-party preferred votes counted at the 2022 election.
In fact, for the last 80 years the two-party preferences (TPP) count was between the two major parties, but at the last election, the Australian Electoral Commission switched from counting between the Labor and Liberal parties when it became apparent that Mr Dyson had secured more first preference votes than the Labor Party.
Mr Dyson received 20.09 per cent of first preferences with a tally of 17,122 and a swing of +10.44 capitalising on the 10.39 per cent first preferences he received in 2019.
Likewise, Mr Dyson was interviewed as part of the Four Corners program.
“They said it will be a close call this time around so that was the reason they came to cover one of the closer races across the nation,” he said.
“It’s great to see south west Victoria getting a bit of national attention because we’ve been getting ignored for quite a while.
“I was in my hometown of Warrnambool for the day – we happened to have a ‘Dog walks for Dyson’ event and about 50 people showed up in the rain – it was a good sign of the support and the resilience of the volunteers and how passionate they are about getting a better deal for our area.”
The Alex Dyson camp recently celebrated reaching 500 individual donors last week with the candidate saying every donation counted and was critical to the campaign.
“It became evident in my first campaign, where my entire budget was $5000, that we’d need more funds to compete with the major parties,” he said.
“Right now, we are fundraising to print and deliver our own positive flyer to letterboxes across the electorate to counteract the lies being spread by our opponents.”
The amount of every donation above $1000 is disclosed on the ‘Donate’ page of Mr Dyson’s website, as well as donations of smaller amounts from people who agree to have their names published.
“Integrity and transparency issues was one of the reasons why I chose to run as an Independent,” Mr Dyson said.
“Our list of donors is updated regularly and are there for all to see – unlike the major parties which only publish their donors after each election.”
Mark Wootton and Eve Kantor from Jigsaw Farms, Cavendish have pledged $50 for every new donor who donates $10 or more Mr Dyson’s way.
The crowd funding group Climate200 who support independents that want action on climate change, integrity in politics, and equal opportunity for women, has also donated to the movement.
