Leaked email warns of challenge from independent candidate and urges party members to write to papers praising Mirabella

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Sophie Mirabella is being “thoroughly outgunned” in her bid to retain her seat of Indi, according to a leaked email from a member of her staff, with her main challenger claiming the support of several former Coalition MPs.

Mirabella, the shadow science and innovation minister and a leading figure on the right of the Coalition, holds Indi with a notionally safe margin of 9%.

But the incumbent is facing increasingly stiff competition from popular local independent Cathy McGowan, who could topple Mirabella if she is preferenced strongly by Labor, the Greens and minor parties.

A leaked email from Mirabella staffer Adam Wyldeck, published by Crikey, admits that the Liberal candidate is being “thoroughly outgunned by the McGowan camp” and urges party members to write letters to local newspapers praising Mirabella.

Wyldeck said McGowan supporters were “flooding every single one of the local papers with vitriolic letters of hatred towards Sophie”.

McGowan told Guardian Australia that there was strong support for her campaign from outgoing independent MPs Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor and even from former Coalition MPs.

Windsor – who has labelled Mirabella “nasty” – publicly offered help to McGowan and may even make a campaign appearance, despite recent poor health.

“Lots of independents have been very helpful and offered personal support, including Tony Windsor,” she said. “But it’s much wider than Tony. Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum, including former Coalition MPs, have said, ‘Well done Cathy, we hope you get there.’

“This is a traditional conservative seat where rural people want something better from their politicians. They want good government but also good communication, where their MP engages properly with them.”

McGowan, an agricultural consultant, said the National Broadband Network was a key election issue in Indi, claiming that constituents were unhappy with the Coalition’s alternative.

The independent candidate said she had 360 volunteers working on her campaign, although she had not discussed preferences with Labor or the Greens and would not be distributing her own preferences.

The division of Indi is a sprawling rural electorate in Victoria that includes the towns of Wodonga and Wangaratta, as well as the mountainous Falls Creek and Bright.

Conservative politicians have held the seat since 1931, with Mirabella the incumbent since 2001. Her primary vote has fallen from 62.6% in 2004 to 52.6% in 2010.

A spokesman for Mirabella said she was unavailable to comment on her campaign.