Manjimup farmer to lead Nationals’ fight to claim Warren-Blackwood back from Labor’s Jane Kelsbie

The newly named Nationals WA candidate for Warren-Blackwood has conceded he has a big job on his hands winning over voters in the Augusta-Margaret River shire. At a conference on the weekend, Manjimup farmer Bevan Eatts was picked for the job of winning back the Labor-held seat from first-term MP Jane Kelsbie, who famously snatched the Nationals stronghold from Terry Redman while riding the wave of then-Premier Mark McGowan’s pandemic popularity. In a chat with the Times this week, Mr Eatts acknowledged Augusta-Margaret River, as well as Denmark, had a strong Green-Left vote at the past election. Ms Kelsbie was strong at the electorate’s two biggest polling places — Denmark Recreation Centre and Margaret River Senior High School. “It’ll be a tough seat to win back and I’m going to give it a red-hot crack,” Mr Eatts said. “Denmark and Margaret River have been identified as the hardest ones to win back. “I’d like to think the Mark McGowan popularity of the Labor Party was at its peak at the last election, but there’s no way I’m thinking we have an easy run of it.” Mr Eatts is a third-generation farmer, former president of the Manjimup Chamber of Commerce and current chairman of the Southern Forests Food Council. He ran on the Nationals’ 2017 Legislative Council ticket in the South West electorate, but was unsuccessful after scoring the unwinnable third spot on the party’s ticket. But his challenge for Warren-Blackwood would be even greater at next year’s poll, with the electorate boundaries moved to take in all of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River while losing Nationals bastions such as Mt Barker. “I’m going to have to get out there and meet and greet people and let them know my background,” Mr Eatts told the Times. “I’m just a down-to-earth person trying to stand up for the region I live in. “The people who live in the community know what they need and they need to be listened to.” Speaking at the announcement of the party’s candidates for Warren-Blackwood and Geraldton, Nationals’ State president Julie Freeman said Mr Eatts was a familiar leader for the region. “Bevan’s local knowledge and involvement in the business community and the agricultural and horticultural sectors in Warren-Blackwood has seen him emerge as a local leader in the region,” she said. “Bevan has also played a key role in helping to stand up for businesses and families who were let down by the Labor Government’s snap decision to shut the timber industry.” Mr Eatts said the Nationals would reveal policies he believed would gel with regional voters as well.