Liberal Candidate for Forrest, Nola Marino, has won the seat of Forrest at the 2007 National Election with a reduced margin.

Nola Marino will become the seventh person and first women to represent the Division of Forrest since the electorate was created in 1922.

Forrest has followed the national trend towards Labor, with a swing of 4.7%. The Liberals now hold Forrest by a margin of 5.7%, Forrest will now be classed as marginal seat.

Celebrity Independent candidate Noel Brunning fails to live up to the media hype that followed his campaign. Mr Brunning recorded only 11.6% of the primary vote, well below both the Labor and Liberal Party.

The Liberal Party primary vote was down 8% across the seat, while the Labor Primary was up 2.4%.

Detailed Analysis of the Race for Forrest to follow shortly.

Prime Minister John Howard and Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd have been invited to inspect the Jetty as part of their election campaigns by the Shire.

Both the Shire and State Government have requested Federal Government assistance towards the reconstruction of the Jetty. Newly elected Shire President Wes Hartley said "both leaders were visiting Western Australia during their election campaigns and the invitation provided a great opportunity for them to focus on an issue of importance to the voters in the seat of Forrest and the South West in particular."

"A Federal contribution is a key element to the future sustainability of Busselton Jetty so it is important both parties understand they may have a role in contributing to the saving of this important iconic structure", said Cr Hartley.

Prime Minister John Howard has acknowledged the invitation, but has not committed to a visit. The Shire is still waiting for a response from the Leader of the Opposition.

The race for Forrest at this election should be an interesting one when compared to previous years. Although the Liberal Party is expected to retain the seat, it is likely that there margin will be dramatically cut from it current 10.5% margin.

A poll conducted by NineMSN of 353 voters in Forrest has shown a swing of 5.4% towards Labor. It should be noted that the poll has a large margin of error of around 6%. This possible swing could be enlarged by up to 2% following the announcement of the ballot positions. Labor's Peter MacFarlane has drawn the top spot and his chances will by helped along by the donkey votes. When mixed in with the recent road funding announced by Labor for Bunbury and Mandurah the unlikely could become reality.

Independent candidate Noel Brunning has continued his highly publicised race to win Forrest. Though The Geo believes that his chances of winning the seat are next to none. His stance on Workchoices and slightly confusing stance on climate change will harm his chances. But his unwillingness to trade preferences with either major party will harm his chances much more than his view on policy. If Brunning had done a preference deal with Labor and then out polled them, Labor preferences would then flow to him. Giving him a serious chance of an upset.

Nola Marino has continued her campaign of invisibility. Nola has run an extremely unusual campaign, which has involved avoiding the media at any cost. Nola has frequently refused to participate in debated on ABC South West radio and has ignored media requests from The Geo. The obvious deficiencies aside The Liberal party is expected to win Forrest. The question is, will their choice of candidate in 2007 harm their chances in 2010 of retaining Forrest.

Ballot Position

The Australian Electoral Commission has released the official Ballot positions for the Federal Election. The Forrest Ballot is Below.

Minister for State Education and Training and the SoutWest, Mark McGowan, has given Forrest Liberal candidate Nola Marino a serve in State Parliament for her "fairly bizarre campaign" in the notionally safe Liberal seat.

In the 25 October session, McGowan, said that Ms Marino "has mixed Local State and Federal issues" in her campaign.

McGowan’s attack came after a question from the Member for Collie-Wellington, Mick Murray, who asked the Minister if he was aware of Ms Marino’s plan to tackle a number of State related issues and whether "her obsession with state matters reflect on the quality of representation of her state-based colleagues."

Ms Marino outlined a "seven-point plan" for Forrest which was mainly State issues or issues that the Howard Government has been reluctant to commit to and it could be said, implies a criticism of the representations of the local State members of Parliament, all Liberal, including the leader of the Opposition, Paul Omodei.

For the transcript of the Minister’s answer and his attack on Ms Marino click here.