Duncan McGauchie has won Liberal Party preselection for the Victorian rural electorate of Murray.
He will be seeking to replace Sharman Stone, the retiring Liberal member who has held the seat since 1996.
McGauchie is a “policy and communications expert” who has worked as an adviser to former Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu.
He is currently employed by Newgate Australia, which describes itself as “working at the interface of business, politics, markets and media”, with a “proven methodology..based around objective research, which guides strategy and campaign development and implementation”.
His Newgate profile says his areas of expertise “include issues management, government relations, public policy and regulatory communications, stakeholder engagement and corporate communications”.
McGauchie is also a member of the advisory board of the Broadmeadows Schools Network.
Murray is a northern Victorian electorate, bordering the Murray River, that includes towns such as Boort, Shepparton, Cobram, Echua. Kyabram, Mooroopna, Murchison, Nathalia, Rushworth, Violet Town, Wedderburna dn Yarrawonga. It borders Mallee to the east, Wannon, Bendigo and McEwen to the south, and Indi to the east.
Since its creation in 1949, Murray has only had three members, two from the Country (Nationals) Party, including its former leader, Sir John McEwen. The current Liberal member, Sharman Stone, snatched the seat from the Nationals in 1996 when Bruce Lloyd retired. The Nationals are expected to nominate Victorian state MP Damian Drum in what will be a three-cornered contest later this year.
Stone secured 61.41% of the primary vote in 2013 and 70.87% of the two-party-preferred vote.
McGauchie’s father, Donald, is well known as a former president of the National Farmers Federation, a former chairman of Telstra and a former member of the board of the Reserve Bank.
This picture of McGauchie with Sharman Stone was posted on Twitter by Stone shortly after the preselection result was announced:
