THE enduring coalition between the Liberal and National parties has given the conservative side of politics a strong defence against Labor in urban, regional and rural Australia alike.
The Hunter Region is regarded as some of the safest Labor territory in the nation, but the state seat of Upper Hunter has been held continuously by the Nationals - and their predecessors, the Country Party - since 1931, and has never returned a Labor member.
The state seat of Maitland was a Liberal stronghold for many years.
Federally, Paterson covers some of the same area, and has also returned Liberal members.
With Joel Fitzgibbon, member for the seat of Hunter, having generated a major controversy for federal Labor over energy policy and coal, the National Party is looking to cash in on the ALP rift, believing it has a good chance of knocking over the veteran Labor member, or a new ALP candidate should Mr Fitzgibbon not stand again.
Elections are rarely if ever the clean-cut single-issue referendums that party leaders - especially victorious ones - sometimes project.
But the livelihood of the Hunter's coal industry - and the flip side of the coin, the climate-change push to do away with coal - could well be the major issue in Hunter when voters next go to the polls, potentially as soon as August next year.
Coincidentally or not, the Fitzgibbon ruckus has been followed by an influx of visiting politicians, starting last week with federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt and Labor leader Anthony Albanese.
The Nationals caravan continued yesterday with party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, joined by state Roads Minister Paul Toole, the member for Bathurst, and National Party NSW Senator Perin Davey.
Today, outspoken former ministers Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan will be in Newcastle, along with David Gillespie, whose electorate of Lyne takes in the Dungog, Gloucester and Great Lakes areas.
The two-party preferred count at last year's federal election did show Nationals candidate Josh Angus pushing Mr Fitzgibbon to a 53 per cent to 47 per cent result, but the most conspicuous feature of the vote was the strong showing by One Nation coalminer Stuart Bonds, who intends standing again.
Regardless of the stances of the major parties, coal will be at the centre of the region's political agenda, to polling day and beyond.
ISSUE: 39,473.
IN THE NEWS:
