ACT Senate race: can independents chase down Liberal incumbent?

Canberra is one of the most progressive cities in the country. ACT residents are more likely to be highly educated, less religious and better paid than the average Australian, making it an outlier in federal politics.

But for the last 50 years, the two Senate spots in the Australian Capital Territory have been held exclusively by the Liberal and Labor parties. Now in 2022, two high-profile independents are vying to replace the Liberal incumbent, Zed Seselja.

A recent Redbridge robo-phone survey of voting intentions for the Climate 200 group had Labor at 27%, followed by the Liberals at 24% and Pocock at 21%.

Pocock and another independent; constitutional law professor Kim Rubenstein believe that by making Canberra a marginal contest, they can ensure the territory will be granted more funding.

Pocock says there is frustration in Canberra about being ignored.

Since the start of the campaign, $70.4m in spending has been announced by both parties fort the three ACT electorates. The majority coming from the Coalition and going to Bean, the electorate with the tightest margin of the three. In comparison, the electorate of Eden-Monaro next door, one of the most marginal seats in the country, has received $127.3m.

He points to the $2.2b of federal money dedicated to the ACT in the previous term. Which includes investment in critical infrastructure projects such as the extension of the light rail and the establishment of a new Indigenous precinct near Capital Hill.

Ads depicting him splitting open his shirt open in a Clark-Kent-like fashion to reveal a Greens logo have popped up all around the ACT in attempt to dissuade would-be conservative voters.

Pocock has a history of environmental activism, having once been arrested for chaining himself to machinery in protest of a new coal mine.

Greens candidate, Dr Tjanara Goreng Goreng, a Wakka Wakka woman and academic says the Greens are indeed the party for climate-conscious voters and being associated with them was a virtue rather than a slur. Pointing to the success of the shared Labor/Greens ACT government that has led the ACT to become the first territory in Australia to go 100% renewable energy.

Disengaged voters should opt for a minor party before going independent, she said.

United Australia party candidate, James Savoulidis, agrees with the independents about the need to make the ACT a marginal seat. A recent poll suggests he holds a 6% primary vote which may prove to be significant for Seselja.