Sal Kimber performs a Indi version of “From Little Things Big Things Grow” at the end of the campaign launch on August 4. Original version of “From Little Things Big Things Grow” was written by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody.
McGowan media advisor/manager Cambell Klose (centred) listens to speeches at the Wangaratta party.
Photo by Elaine Campaner
Something Wonky election night interview with Margo Kingston in Indi.
September 9, 2013
Margo Kingston joins Breakfast’s Angus Randall to discuss Indi and voters’ message to both big parties.
September 9, 2013
Paul Bevan speaks to Margo about the current situation in Indi, Clive Palmer’s numbers in Fairfax and the new senate make up.
Citizen Journalist Margo Kingston has been in Indi. She says the grass roots campaign focused on local issues could still see the end of Mirabella.
September 12, 2013
Margo Kingston talks about the treatment of Sophie Mirabella with Raf Epstein on Drive.
September 18, 2013
Margo Kingston talking #IndiVotes and how Independent candidate Cathy McGowan took the conservative seat away from Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella.
Cathy McGowan has promised to act in the best interests of Indi, but just how effective can an Independent be?
The Indi Orange Movement seen through the lens of local Citizen Journalist and Photographer Wayne Jansson
Roll over photos to read captions and click on photos to see bigger versions.-
- A sea of Liberal party signs at Wangaratta Tafe.
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- McGowan stops for photos with supporters before her speech – Wangaratta.
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- Votes coming in from scrutineers
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- A jubilant McGowan making her way to the stage to address supporters – election night party Wangaratta.
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- McGowan media advisor/manager Cambell Klose (centred) listens to speeches at the Wangaratta party
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- Cathy McGowan hugs a supporter as she arrives at the Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre party on election night.
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- McGowan supporters during McGowans speech at the Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre.
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- Win or loose, McGowan claims a victory with the locals of Indi for what they have achieved together.
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- Partying on election night in Wangaratta.
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- Intrepid @NoFibs citizen journo for #IndivotesWayne and Margo
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- Cathy McGowan’s young and enthusiastic young team after the speeches.
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- McGowan making her way through the crownd after her speech.
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- athy to The Age @henriettacook – ‘We had a vision and 650 volunteers delivered our message
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- ‘I need a perfect storm of preferences to win,’ says Cathy to ABC
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- .@indigocathy needs experienced scrutineers for the ‘footie match’ this week
More stories:
How Indi got itself on the map: The blueprint
No Fibs #Indivotes archive.
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Margo please thank all Cathy McGowan’s workers.
I am a Labor voter but if I lived in the Indi electorate Cathy M would have got my vote.
Indi – some historical perspective
Indi is one of the original 23 electorates in Victoria in the Australian parliament. It was won by a local lad, Isaac Isaacs in 1901. He had been the acting premier of Victoria and had support from the Victorian cabinet, as well as The Age, to become premier but decided to stand for the House of Representatives instead.
In 1903 he was returned unopposed and became attorney-general in the Deakin government on 5 July 1905. He was appointed to the High Court of Australia in October 1906 and served almost 25 years there, before becoming the first Australian born Governor General on 22 January 1931. This established rather a high bar of expectations for the good people of Indi from their elected representatives.
His father, Alfred Isaacs, was a tailor who had moved to London from Russian Poland, as it was then, in the 1840’s, and migrated to Victoria in 1854. Five years later the family were in Yackandandah where Isaac attended the local school. His education continued at Beechworth Grammar making him very much a product of Indi.
The election to replace Isaacs in Indi was won by Joseph Tilley Brown, the son of an English sea captain, who had arrived in Australia as a seven year old and emerged from Geelong Grammar School to work in retailing and then for the Bank of NSW in rural Victoria. In January 1874, he was the first manager of the bank at Rochester and married Mary Ann Seward, daughter of the popular local publican, Thomas Seward. Mary was a year older than her brother Stephen who went on to be the proprietor of Craig’s Royal Hotel, Ballarat
A year later Joseph resigned from the bank over “irregularities on the part of a subordinate” and went into business with his brother-in-law, Stephen Seward, in the stock and station agency, Brown & Seward.
Mr Brown would appear to have been what would later become known as “a person of interest” at the 1878 royal commission on the progress of settlement under the 1869 Land Act when he was charged with ‘boss-cockie dummying’. Brown admitted he had managed a small group of family and friends to exploit the Act. Despite this questionable history he had sufficient admirers to be successful in local government on the Echuca Shire Council for many years. Stephen Seward served as the shire secretary.
In 1890 J.T.Brown successfully sued David & J.C.Syme, the proprietors of The Age for libel over an article published when Brown was a candidate for Gunblower in the Legislative Assembly in 1889. He was awarded 500 pounds damages and the defendants were unsuccessful in an application to the full court for a re-trial.
Brown was defeated in the 1910 election. He stood as an independent for Indi in the election held on 31 May 1913 and received just 67 votes – only a few years after he had been elected by more than 10,000 of the same voters. I’m fascinated to try and find out what sort of scandal caused such a massive turn around in the public sentiment.
Joseph Tilley Brown’s had another brother-in-law, Harrie Seward, who was a senator for WA in the Menzies Government of the 1951-1958 after he had been the Country Party member for Pingelly from 1933 to 1950.
Another family political link was Henry Gregory who the member for North Coolgardie from 1897 to 1911 serving as minister for mines, and railways at various times and was acting premier of W.A. and treasurer in 1910-11. He was responsible for a significant reform of the mining laws that became known as the ‘Gregory Act’ (1904). He won the Federal seat of Dampier in 1913 and held Swan from 1922 earning the nickname of “Barbwire Harry” for his battles to lower the duty on fencing wire. He was last elected in September 1940 at the age of 80. Henry Gregory and Stephen Seward married Kelleher sisters from Bendigo.
DISCLOSURE: Stephen Seward is the eldest son of Thomas Seward who was the first member of my family to arrive in Australia. Thomas was sentenced to 7 years transportation in Salisbury for the offence of ‘being found to have a red cheese suspected of being stolen’ in his possession. This led to him being delivered to Sydney on the convict ship ‘Mangles’ in May 1837.
Of course, the family will take much longer to live down the shame of having such a cluster of conservative pollies on our genetic tree.
Laurie Cousins
7 September 2013
My first impulse for wanting Cathy to replace Sophie was to bring civility to politics.
I really like what I hear in this interview and even more hope Cathy gets the seat.
Inspiring insight, thanks for this Margo and Cathy.