With only three days until the election, Mike Kelly’s odds are continuing to shorten, putting him on $1.27 against Liberal incumbent Peter Hendy's $3.50.
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Online bookmaker Sportsbet announced last Wednesday that punters are narrowly backing an overall Malcolm Turnbull victory in a close cropped 2016 election.
It’s been 44-years since Eden-Monaro has been anything but a bellwether seat, and Dr Kelly is looking to break with tradition.
Dr Kelly lost Eden-Monaro in 2013 to Mr Hendy, a former senior political adviser and head of the business lobby group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Federal boundary changes last year shifted the Yass Valley out of Hume and into the ‘forgotten corner’ of NSW, the Eden-Monaro, which spans just over 800 km in circumference.
Kelly started the election campaign as a $2.40 chance and now has nearly halved his odds.
“This could be the first election since Labor’s Allan Fraser won the seat in 1969 that the party which wins Eden Monaro doesn’t win government. With only a few days until polling day, Mike Kelly looks to have Eden Monaro in the bag, with 9 in 10 punters backing him for the win,” sportsbet.com.au’s Ben Bulmer said.
Sportsbet is offering odds on all 150 House of Representative seats, with the Coalition favourite to win 78 seats and Labor 67.
According to Sportsbet, Senator Nick Xenophon is favourite to win his first lower house seat, with Rebekha Sharkie currently the odds-on favourite in the South Australian seat of Mayo.
“The Greens aren’t expected to pick-up any new lower house seats, but Adam Bandt is odds-on to hold Melbourne,” Mr Bulmer continued. “Crossbenchers Bob Katter, Cathy McGowan and Andrew Wilkie are all short priced favourites to hold their seats.”
Eden-Monaro candidates are; Daniel Grosmaire (Independent), Ursula Bennett (Christian Democratic Party), Don Friend (Veterans Party), Ray Buckley (Independent), Peter Hendy (Liberal), Tamara Ryan (The Greens), Frankie Seymour (Animal Justice Party), Andrew Thaler (Independent) and Mike Kelly (Labor).
Pre-polling has already begun at St Clements Church Hall in Church Street, Yass, between 9am and 4pm. The Tribune will have a complete list of polling booths in Friday’s paper.
