CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
In his third attempt as an Independent candidate for the regional Victorian electorate of Wannon, former Triple J announcer Alex Dyson is tipped to win his hometown seat according to recent polls.
Campaigning on local issues, funding, sustainability and integrity in politics – the former Triple J presenter is now starting to look like a full blown regional advocate.
Dyson first ran against Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan in 2019, and was laughed at for doing so by much of the Australian media and the Scott Morrison government.
However, with next to no money for his campaign, Dyson still secured 10.3% of the vote.
In 2022, he ran again. This time with less of the youthful trendiness, and more of the region’s old codgers on side. This was the political equivalent of Alex Dyson going from a Triple J presenter to a double J presenter.
He went on to win 46.08% of the votes in the two candidate preferred count, and put scared the living daylights out of a complacent Liberal Party that thought the people of Wanna would never give them such a kick up the arse.
Now, in his third crack. Dyson has levelled up even more so. He’s got cameras, he’s got vans, he’s got an army of loyal grey-haired regional community members – and he’s got a pair of ironed moleskin trousers. This is the political equivalent of Alex Dyson leaving youth radio behind and becoming a travelling landline presenter.
His recent spike in the opinion polls have caused absolute panic for the Liberal Party’s dirt unit, who can’t seem to land a punch on a bloke who has spent the last 20 years not hiding from any body.
Meanwhile, the AEC is investigating the sinister far-right group, Advance Australia, spends millions of dollars on a misinformation campaign throughout Western Victoria The flyers feature a digitally altered image of Alex Dyson ripping open his shirt to reveal a T-shirt featuring the official logo of The Greens.
However, it does not look like the people of Wannon will be taken for fools by this propaganda. Much like how the people of Canberra did not believe the smear campaigns that were run against Pocock.
All they can hope for now is that John Howard will come down to join Tehan’s campaign, and remind locals of the good old days of the Liberal Party, when they weren’t stuck in Opposition with a generational talent deficit.
It is is unclear whether Tony Abbott’s visit last month really helped things for the Liberals.
