INDEPENDENT Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell has topped the Australian Forest Products Association’s (AFPA) candidate forum poll, with an overwhelming 56pc of respondents supporting the incumbent MP.
In a survey undertaken by the association of attendees of Thursday night’s forestry debate, Mr Bell secured 32 of the 57 votes lodged.
Liberal candidate for Mount Gambier Craig Marsh placed second with 24.5pc of the vote, followed by Australian Conservatives candidate Gregg Bisset (10.5pc) and SA-Best’s Kate Amoroso (8.7pc).
It is the second poll in recent weeks placing Mr Bell as the electorate’s favoured candidate, despite looming charges against the incumbent MP, which he will face in court after the election.
A recent ReachTel poll of 655 residents across Mount Gambier found Mr Bell on track to win the seat with a primary vote of 36.3pc, followed by Mr Marsh (28.5pc) and “a Labor candidate” (13.3pc).
The poll, which was undertaken before Ms Amoroso and Mr Bisset had announced their candidacy, found 11.3pc of voters supported “an SA-Best candidate”, with 2.7pc of respondents backing “an Australian Conservatives candidate”.
Ms Amoroso said she was not discouraged by the AFPA figures, which have her placed lower than the ReachTel poll, while Mr Marsh was not surprised by the figures.
“I expected Troy to do a lot better than I did because he’s been in parliament for four years,” Mr Marsh said.
Mr Bell is facing 26 charges stemming from an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry.
Mr Bell has maintained his innocence and vowed to fight the charges in court.
