One of the most fiercely contested seats this campaign is the division of Gilmore on the New South Wales coast. Many renters in the ultra-marginal electorate are suffering from financial stress, putting cost of living front-and-centre.
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00:00When you're campaigning in one of the nation's most marginal electorates...
00:07Hello, how are you?
00:09We'll keep fighting, there's no doubt.
00:12...even the little things can make a big difference.
00:15Labor's Fiona Phillips has drawn top spot on the ballot.
00:19She retained the seat of Gilmore by just 373 votes last election,
00:23providing the government with a one-seat buffer.
00:26No one's allowed to call her Fiona anymore, we'll just call her 77.
00:30Three years later, she's fighting for votes...
00:33My fear is if that gets in, that's...
00:36Oh, yeah, we're going to stop that.
00:39Oh, please do.
00:41...against the same high-profile challenger,
00:43former New South Wales Treasurer and Transport Minister Andrew Constance.
00:48I can't wait for you to get to Canberra.
00:50We love you, we welcome you. Thank you, everybody.
00:55This South Coast seat has been hit hard by the housing crisis.
00:59Yama has some of the highest rents in the country.
01:02Advocates say 90% of renters in the electorate are in financial stress.
01:07I know people are doing it tough and that's why I'm out there fighting for them,
01:10providing more bulk-billed GP services, an urgent care clinic.
01:15What I'm worried about is the degree and mental strain and the wellbeing impacts that we are seeing with cost of living.
01:22One of the reasons we're supporting the fuel excise impact is because we know it helps everybody.
01:29Along with a new Greens candidate, there's also an independent this time,
01:33very businesswoman Kate Desarno, who's backed by Simon Holmes Accord.
01:38This is a genuine independent campaign.
01:41Surely we can all see how powerful Kate could be.
01:46In a seat where the result could once again be determined by preferences,
01:50Ms Desarno says she's not doing any deals but sending a clear message.
01:55I will not support a government which is going to advance a nuclear solution to our energy crisis.
02:03While the coalition is promising nuclear power, Labor is pushing a renewable rollout.
02:08But the government has delayed an assessment of the Illawarra wind zone project off the coast of Gilmore until after the election.
02:15Enough is not being done by either of the parties about the big issues.
02:20From environment to homelessness and cost of living.
02:24A close contest that's sparking a conversation about the future up and down the coast.