Kotvojs confirmed as Liberal Candidate for Bega

Dominic Perrottet has revealed that Dr Fiona Kotvojs has been selected as the local Liberal candidate for the upcoming Bega by-election.

Above: Will the Prime Minister dare return to Cobargo to offer his support for the Liberal candidate in her home town? Photo source Much like the endorsement the Dignams Creek truffle farmer received from the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, in May 2020, it is to be seen if the same support will be forthcoming this time around given his poor reception in Cobargo and his total absence from the electorate. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since the last Bega election that saw Andrew Constance elected. Since then the community have seen him announce his resignation from the role of Local Member, not once, but twice, as he moves to step away from State politics and enter the Federal arena. If he fails in his bid for pre-selection for the Federal seat of Gilmore this might well be the end of his political career. The newly announced Liberal candidate for Bega, Fiona Kotvojs, has vicariously inherited the by-products of the pork barrelling revelations of the NSW Government that set in motion the corrosion of any last remaining trust the NSW residents had in their political representatives. At a local level the pork barreling ripped away a deserved arts grant to Bega for their Regional Gallery and instead awarded $8 million to Batemans Bay for a project that offered a 'business plan' that may as well have been drawn up on a napkin. Sadly, as a result of the gifted 'pork chop' the Eurobodalla ratepayers will now be burdened by a white elephant 350 seat theatre expected to lose around half a million dollars per year without even opening its doors. Locals, looking beyond the glitter of a new leisure centre in Batemans Bay and a Captain's call replacement of the Batemans Bay bridge find it hard to look beyond the road 100m in front of them as the region succumbs to potholes and shoves. Added to this is the mounting backlash to the failure to commit that the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital will be opening at Level Four. As a further hurdle the Liberal candidate will need to listen to the Moruya community in regards to the many issues raised about the proposed Moruya Bypass. With the Liberal State government looking somewhat bedraggled and torn by the recent revelations of pork barrelling and in-house arrangements the Liberal candidate from Dignams Creek might find herself painted by a justifiably critical broadbrush with a tone not of her choosing. In July 2020 The Guardian reported that "Climate and LGBT equality campaigners have rounded on the Liberal candidate for Eden-Monaro, Fiona Kotvojs, in the lead-up to Saturday’s byelection, with one warning she is “more conservative” on climate change than Tony Abbott.

Matthew Nott, the founder and president of Clean Energy for Eternity, made the comparison in reference to comments Kotvojs made at a meeting with the local climate group ahead of the 2019 election that Australia’s contribution to global emissions is “minute”. Given that Ms Kotvojs lives in the Bega electorate her views on the Bushfire Royal Commision findings and the ongoing logging in the region should be of interest during her campaign, especially in light of the recent revelations and reports that have been both released, and withheld.