The southern part of the Indi electorate seems to have been almost forgotten as far as early voting centres is concerned.

The Australian Electoral Commission has released a list of Early Voting Centres for Indi. Those locations include Albury, Benalla, Bright, Mansfield, Wangaratta and Wodonga. Early voting starts on Monday (April 29).

The southern section of Indi seems to been out of mind when locations were selected. There is no early voting centre in the entire Murrindindi Shire area.

Voters elsewhere who want to cast their ballot paper early will have to travel to other offices such as Craigieburn, Mill Park, Seymour, South Morang, Sunbury and Wallan.

For example, a Flowerdale early-voter would have to travel to Seymour (55km), Mansfield (102km) or Mill Park (61km). There is almost no affordable public transport. Voters can apply for a postal vote.

Throughout the past four years, although Indi MHR Cathy McGowan has made occasional visits to the ‘rump’ of the electorate, the southern Murrindindi area (with areas including Alexandra, Yea and Kinglake) has been largely ignored.

With competition intense for this unpredictable Federal seat, candidates would be well advised not to ignore the Murrindindi region.

– Comment by Ash Long