On the main strip of Holbrook, Marcia and Chris Wright are having an afternoon beer.<\/p>\n
The unassuming town sits almost halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, hundreds of kilometres down or up the Hume Highway.<\/p>\n
The quintessential Riverina town \u2013 best known for its on-land submarine, which cost $100,000 in the mid-1990s \u2013 is one of many in the region where Pauline Hanson\u2019s One Nation<\/a> is looking for support in the Farrer byelection on 9 May.<\/p>\n Marcia and Chris, who turned 74 and 80 respectively in April, are from the foothills of Woomargama, a 20-minute drive down the road. They have always voted Labor, including at last year\u2019s federal election.<\/p>\n Retirees Marcia and Christopher Wright are among many in the electorate wanting alternative representation to the major parties. Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n But something has changed in the past 12 months. Marcia says people aren\u2019t joining them at the pub as often for their afternoon schooner \u2013 which has cost them $9 each \u2013 preferring to stay home and save money.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just gone up so much; you\u2019re not getting as much as what you used to,\u201d Marcia says, looking at her half-empty glass of beer. It\u2019s also true of her weekly shopping bill.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a joke. Country people like to come and have a drink \u2026 but people aren\u2019t going out as much as they used to.\u201d<\/p>\n Like others Guardian Australia spoke to in the electorate, the retirees are fed up with the major parties and looking for someone else to represent Farrer.<\/p>\n Farrer seat graphic<\/a>Coalition \u2018don\u2019t have a voice here any more\u2019<\/p>\n On paper, Farrer is Coalition<\/a> heartland \u2013 the electorate has always voted for a National or Liberal since it was established in 1949.<\/p>\n But following Sussan Ley\u2019s resignation in February<\/a> after 25 years as its MP, the rural south-western NSW seat is at the centre of an unorthodox political battle.<\/p>\n The frontrunners are like chalk and cheese. But more importantly, neither is from one of the major parties.<\/p>\n David Farley, the One Nation candidate for Farrer, has a background advocating for water security. Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n There\u2019s David Farley, a local agribusiness consultant, who is selling One Nation\u2019s message to farmers, small business owners and disaffected Coalition supporters.<\/p>\n The 69-year-old was once a Nationals member but has since changed his allegiance to One Nation because it has more \u201cpolitical courage and political tenacity\u201d.<\/p>\n The limited polling carried out in the seat<\/a> suggests his main opponent is the independent Michelle Milthorpe<\/a> \u2013 a 47-year-old teacher, backed by the Voices of Farrer and partly funded by Climate 200, who shaved Ley\u2019s lead down to 6.2% at the federal election last May.<\/p>\n Independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe is pushing for a royal commission into water management across the Murray-Darling basin. Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Trailing behind are the Coalition\u2019s candidates \u2013 local Liberal councillor Raissa Butkowski and the Nationals\u2019 army veteran Brad Robertson.<\/p>\n A host of minor party candidates, including the Greens\u2019 Richard Hendrie, and independents are unlikely to make a dent in the final result.<\/p>\n The field is packed but in a rarity for modern Australian political history, neither of the major parties is expected to win. Labor has decided not to run.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n \u201c[The Coalition] haven\u2019t got a voice here any more,\u201d says 66-year-old Deniliquin shop owner Jennifer Pate, who has long voted for either a Nationals or Liberal candidate but now wants to give One Nation a go.<\/p>\n \u201cThe farmers and all that don\u2019t stand by them.\u201d<\/p>\n A seat divided<\/p>\n Four hundred metres from where Marcia and Chris are finishing their schooners, Farley is soon to hold a meet-and-greet at the town\u2019s other pub.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 4.30pm, and there\u2019s little activity in the small town. Despite the buzz about the byelection within Canberra\u2019s bubble, there\u2019s not a corflute in sight.<\/p>\n Marcia blames the federal government for the tougher times. The 74-year-old is no fan of the prime minister or Labor\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n The Holbrook Hotel. Locals say costs are going up in the area. Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it goes down to the man. It\u2019s just their policies,\u201d she says. \u201cThis green thing [climate change] \u2026 Yeah, we\u2019re not with it. Are they going to put a windfarm here somewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n Marcia and Chris say they\u2019ll be voting for One Nation. The main reason? What Hanson is saying about immigration.<\/p>\n Marcia says she\u2019s seen too much homelessness on the streets of Albury, the nearest major town, and wants Australia to solve the crisis before supporting more immigration.<\/p>\n Further up the main road, and across from where the One Nation event will be held, is Jess Russell, a 32-year-old veterinarian who\u2019s just finished her grocery shopping.<\/p>\n One Nation has gained popularity in the electorate through its opposition to immigration, bureaucratic corruption and renewable energy. Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n She says she\u2019s backing Milthorpe because she\u2019s \u201cnot quite as right wing as everyone else\u201d.<\/p>\n The redevelopment of the nearby struggling Albury hospital is her biggest concern.<\/p>\n Like many other voters Guardian Australia spoke to, Russell wants to see a new hospital built that can support the growing population.<\/p>\n But she is also worried about raising her two young children in polarising times, pointing to the politicisation of women\u2019s health care in the US<\/a> as an example.<\/p>\n \u201cI just stay away from anything super right leaning, because it\u2019s just not where Australia should be heading,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n As the afternoon turns to early evening, a slow trickle of people enters the Holbrook Hotel\u2019s beer garden. The venue fills with about 40 people by 6.30pm, mostly older couples, One Nation faithful and some younger families.<\/p>\n Farley arrives late, but his confidence in discussing water policy, due in part to his decades working in the industry, quickly commands the audience.<\/p>\n The One Nation candidate is most convincing when he speaks about his own experience. Farley was once the Australian Agricultural Company\u2019s chief executive and spent decades working in agricultural industries, including cotton.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the One Nation talking points \u2013 opposition to immigration, bureaucratic corruption and renewable energy \u2013 that get the crowd most enthused.<\/p>\n \u2018We can\u2019t lose the water\u2019<\/p>\n