She will join the neighboring independent candidate, Member for Indi Helen Haines as part of the teals, supported by Mr Holmes a Court’s Climate 200.
Ms Milthorpe plans to contest Farrer against sitting member and Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley.
Reports indicated Climate 200 provided $35,000 for Ms Haines’ campaign in 2022.
But it has not come without controversy, with media reports last year that Ms Haines supported the Greens about 60 per cent of the time.
This included her support in late 2023 for Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Murray-Darling Basin Plan legislation, which controversially introduced water buybacks without a neutrality test to protect communities.
Under the previous legislation, buybacks were only permitted if there were no negative social and economic impacts on local communities.
With the support of Ms Haines, this was abandoned.
While Ms Milthorpe and her ‘Voices of Farrer’ campaign may get a financial boost from Climate 200, the effect on her campaign across the electorate, especially outside of Albury, is in the spotlight.
The Southern Riverina News was told it had the potential to “smash her vote” across the Deniliquin and Southern Riverina regions.
“If she is aligned to the teals, she will lose votes from our farming community, and this will flow on to large sections of voters in our towns,” one local businessman with an interest in politics told us.
He said ongoing concerns had been expressed by farmers about numerous Albanese Government policies which are adversely affecting their livelihoods.
“The teals have supported these policies and have been referred to as ‘Greens in all but name’. So I don’t think Ms Milthorpe joining that group will be well received around here,” he said.
Ms Milthorpe told the Southern Riverina News yesterday that, first and foremost, the biggest percentage of funds for her campaign are from the Farrer area.
"I have to work while I am campaigning, and having the backing of the teals helps to compete somewhat fairly, but I am not owned by anyone.
"My own experience with government has been, that if I am to get change I am to do it myself. I got into it because I wasn't happy with what I saw."
Ms Milthorpe said primary producers are a big part of her campaigning, and added “we've forgotten about governance being for the people”.
Ms Ley has been a vocal critic of teal candidates in recent times, last year saying they “have failed to meet the standards they set others”.
21°C