Yass Valley an election winner

ELECTION: Both Liberal Pru Goward and Country Labor candidate Ursula Stephens have accused each other of trying to buy votes by making 11^th hour election promises.

Clearly, the Goulburn electorate is the winner, with Yass Valley being singled out for some very special election sweeteners.

Locals must be reeling from the shock of having so much thrown at their feet to win their vote.

In the last two weeks Ms Goward has promised the Yass Valley:

• $3 million for extra overtaking lanes on Barton Highway, topped up by $12 million from the Federal Government
• A brand new ambulance station, and a Multi-Purpose Health Service
• $550 million for improvements to the Murrumbateman Recreation Ground
• Funding to fix water supplies for Yass, Binalong and Bowning
• $25 million for mobile phone blackspots – spread across NSW
• Physical improvements to Yass Junction Railway Station

Meanwhile, Dr Stephens has promised;

• $10 million to continue the redevelopment of Yass High after the 2012 fire
• $25 million for a new public school at Murrumbateman.

Both candidates have promised big money for Goulburn Hospital.

Locals must be reeling from the shock of having so much thrown at their feet to win their vote; a new experience for long-term residents of the valley, used to having the seat of Burrinjuck neatly wrapped up by Katrina Hodgkinson for the Nationals.

One thing is clear – the newly-drawn electorate of Goulburn, and especially the Yass Valley within it, is no longer being taken for granted.

Both Goward and Stephens have told Scoop they now consider the Goulburn electorate marginal. This is backed up by a headline in The Australian on Thursday, ‘Pru Goward’s seat up for grabs’.

The ABC‘s respected election commentator Antony Green has listed Goulburn among his “key seats”. Mr Green was quoted on ABC Online saying the redistribution was a “game-changer”.

The ‘Stop the Sell Off’ campaign has also been highly visible in the Yass Valley over recent weeks, with local TransGrid staff getting behind it due to concerns over job security.

Both candidates have campaigned strongly on this issue, realising the stakes are high.

That all being said and done, every prediction has the Liberals taking the seat by a comfortable margin. Betting odds on SportsBet at the time of publishing put Goward at $1.10, and Stephens at $6.50.

Still, the tug-of-war means Yass Valley is ultimately the winner, if the promises come true.