The missing nine per cent: Will Farrer voters choose fresh local representation or more of the same?
By Jack Arnold
In the 2025 federal election for the seat of Farrer, 10,234 informal votes were cast – 9.03% of the total turnout of 113,297. With the upcoming by-election on 9 May 2026 shaping up as a contest between Independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe and One Nation’s David Farley, those informal votes could prove decisive.
Recent polling and commentary suggest a tight race, with Milthorpe – a local teacher, business owner, and advocate for regional issues including health services and support for families – positioned as a credible community-focused alternative. Farley, a 69-year-old agribusiness consultant, represents Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.
The success of independents in other regional electorates offers a point of comparison. In Victoria’s Indi, voters have twice elected and re-elected independents: first Cathy McGowan and then Dr Helen Haines. These outcomes demonstrate that regional communities can be well served by locally grounded representatives who prioritise electorate needs over party lines.
In New South Wales, several electorates west of the Great Dividing Range have also turned to independents. Helen Dalton in Murray has focused on Murray-Darling Basin water policy. Dr Joe McGirr in Wagga Wagga has advocated for better regional health infrastructure. Roy Butler in Barwon has highlighted the need for road maintenance and upgrades across his vast electorate. Phil Donato in Orange has worked to secure strong outcomes for his constituents from the state government.
A common concern raised about major parties in regional seats is the influence of central party organisations – often based in metropolitan areas – over pre-selections and ministerial roles. Similar questions about internal party structures and external influences arise with smaller parties too.
One Nation has recently received significant funding, including over $2 million in donations linked to entities associated with Gina Rinehart, as well as the gift of a new Cirrus SR22 aircraft valued at more than $1 million. Supporters argue this will help the party campaign more effectively across regional Australia. Critics, however, question whether large donations from any single source can affect a party’s perceived independence.
Farrer voters now face a clear choice. They can support a local independent like Michelle Milthorpe, who emphasises improved health care infrastructure, services for families, and addressing the practical challenges faced by regional communities after years of perceived neglect by distant decision-makers.
Alternatively, they can back David Farley and One Nation, whose platform aligns with the party’s broader national agenda and benefits from substantial private backing.
The high informal vote in 2025 suggests many in Farrer are dissatisfied with the options they’ve been given. With polling day approaching, the question is whether enough of those voters – and the broader electorate – will turn out to back a candidate they believe will deliver tangible improvements for their communities and their children, or whether familiar patterns of party-aligned representation will prevail.
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Jack Arnold is a retired academic polymath who commenced his professional career as a research scientist and ended as a lawyer, with too many decades of education between. To stay busy he has taken an active interest in all levels of local New England politics for the past 50 years, assisting in the election of three progressive candidates, the latter two being very busy Independent representatives for their communities.
Since the retirement of these politicians in 2013, New England has stagnated economically and socially with pre-selected Nationals being elected to Parliaments in the strange local belief that voting for 19th century ideals would yield the new government infrastructure projects that our kids will need to live in the electorates in this 21st century.
Regional Independents get things done for their communities.
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The voters of Farrer would have to be either politically naive or very stupid to elect anyone other than Milthorpe but especially Farley who represents a party, One Nation, with few policies (and those should be anathema to Farrer) and little respect.