There are a few million reasons why the Liberal Party might be doing better in Eden Monaro than a study of the national polls would suggest. Prime Minister John Howard used this southern New South Wales seat in his latest party room pep talk to claim that all was not yet lost. As reported in Crikey yesterday, Mr Howard told his colleagues that Liberal Party research showed that Special Minister of State Gary Nairn was hanging on despite having a majority of just 3.3 per cent.

Students of the grass roots gravy train page in the special Crikey election section will find a few clues as to why this might be so. Eden Monaro features prominently in the list of government handouts announced since the May budget, the latest being $4.5 million announced last Friday to help far south coast industries cope with big cuts to the area’s off-shore fishing industry. One of the town of Eden’s two pubs was the recipient of $300,000 along with $1.4 million for a marine discovery centre, a grant of nearly $500,000 to Pelagic Fish Processors and $230,000 to the Twofold Bay Fishermen’s Co-op.

According to Mr Nairn, the funds will allow businesses in Eden, Pambula, Merimbula, Tathra, Bermagui and Narooma to set themselves up for future development.

“Fifteen businesses in fact in the far south coast areas will benefit from this funding,” he told the ABC.

Earlier contributions of federal funds to Eden Monaro are $4 million to the receiver of a Canberra timber business employing Queanbeyan residents of Eden Monaro and up to $10 million towards a pipeline to improve water supply security in the Bega Shire.

That’s $18.5 million in post-budget spending in one electorate!

The massive new headquarters for the Australian armed forces being built in the electorate between Queanbeyan and Bungendore has not gone unnoticed either. They used to call Queanbeyan, just over the ACT border from Canberra, “struggle town” but Gary Nairn, surely one of the great parish pump politicians in the country, has done a lot to change that with his amazing capacity to land projects and grants for his electorate.

My admiration for his abilities came from observing him at close quarters when I lived in Eden. The giant bakery built with a previous round of federal largesse might now be lying vacant and employing nobody, but the locals can gaze out every day across Twofold Bay and see the new naval wharf where cruise ships now regularly berth. And the adjacent munitions depot he lured to town created real jobs.

If Gary Nairn is not doing better than the average Liberal candidate then Governments can forget about ever trying to bribe a voter.