In the streets of Eden-Monaro, it's health, the environment and business on people's minds

But for the people who live in Eden-Monaro - whether it be down south in Eden, out west in Tumbarumba or up in Yass - all those issues are for the "bubble" types. When it comes to voting in the upcoming byelection, it's local issues that will be on their minds.

Covering more than 46,000 square kilometres, Eden-Monaro is considered rural, but its residents include those living on the fringe of Canberra in Queanbeyan, farmers in the mountains and those hugging the South Coast. Home to both beautiful beaches and mountain ranges, different parts of the electorate have suffered under years of drought. Some have been scorched by fire and even dealt with floods in recent months.

There won't be any one issue that will turn voters one way or the other.

For Grant Forsdick, the first issue that comes to mind when the topic of politics is raised is biosecurity. The owner of an angora goat farm in Burragate, inland from Eden, Mr Forsdick is concerned the government's biosecurity laws don't have teeth, leaving land like his vulnerable to aggressive weeds like serrated tussock and African lovegrass.

Among the picturesque mountains, Mr Forsdick is set to expand the family farm Currajong Commons to include luxury accommodation in coming weeks, but as for much of the South Coast that relies on tourism, the spread of COVID-19 has slowed his plans.

"We've got over the drought, we've got over the bushfires, then COVID really drove a spear into us," he said.

"We were all ready to go with the tourists, we were hoping they would come back, then they were told to stay home."

As restrictions ease he hopes there will be leadership within Australian governments at all levels to encourage domestic tourism, to point someone who once may have gone to Bali instead to the Sapphire Coast.

Acknowledging that the issues of most importance to him are state responsibilities, Mr Forsdick said it would still be important for a federal candidate to understand how important they were to locals, and to promise to show leadership on those issues.

While he said he usually votes for the Liberal Party, Mr Forsdick said the past week had been "disappointing" due to the infighting between the Coalition parties.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance announced his intention to run for the seat on Tuesday, then had a quick change of heart on Wednesday, amid text messages full of expletives and blame reportedly sent by his NSW cabinet colleague and Deputy Premier John Barilaro to federal Nationals leader Michael McCormack.

Like Mr Forsdick, none of the voters who spoke to The Canberra Times said internal party goings-on are front of mind when they think of the byelection. In Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains, farmstay owner Olivier Kapetanakos said the town's lack of medical resources were the most pressing issue. After a bee attack last year, he had to be helicoptered to Canberra for treatment, an expensive and difficult experience.

"We're an under-resourced town, a town with 5000 people and only a medical centre," he said.

Like many tourist-driven areas, small towns in the Snowys are designed for small populations and struggle at peak tourist times. As part of the Jindabyne Action Group, Mr Kapetanakos has been lobbying for change.

"How I'm going to vote, federally or state, is with a politician who can identify what we need and who can help us achieve that," he said.

While he tends to vote with the Liberals or Nationals, Mr Kapetanakos said he "challenges" himself every election to ensure he knows about the candidates and is making the best decision. He was sorry to hear of the early retirement of Labor member Mike Kelly, who he described as "a real gentleman".

While the bushfire response and COVID-19 have dominated the headlines, he doubts they will swing voters either for or against the government.

"We should be voting on the lack of funding for country roads, for health, education and tourism. I'm hoping people see beyond bushfire recovery."

The Liberal candidate for the seat is yet to be confirmed, but Mr Kapetanakos said he had been impressed by Fiona Kotvojs, who ran for the party last year and has nominated for preselection again.

Mr Kapetanakos said residents in the mountains were optimistic that COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted with enough of the peak snow season still to go, allowing money to start flowing again.

In the tiny town of Tanga, just north of Tathra on the coast, local Kathleen McCann said the major issue for her was the same as it had been before the fires, but now with more urgency - climate change.

"Definitely since Tathra [the bushfires in 2018], since the behaviour of the weather is so out of control now, that's the biggest issue for me," Ms McCann said.

"That's what we're selling to the tourists, that's why they love the coast - the biodiversity, the incredible beautiful natural environment," the permaculture consultant and artist said, describing her concerns about increased logging in the area.

While COVID-19 is impacting every element of daily life, Ms McCann isn't sure how it will affect votes in the community.

"It's more an issue no one really knows how to react to, it's so out of the box for everyone. It's a one-day-at-a-time thing."

Health funding is also a huge issue for residents in the Bega area, where Ms McCann says it feels like funding has dried up since a new hospital was built in the area and is still experiencing teething issues.

While sad to see Dr Kelly's retirement, Ms McCann said she was excited by the idea of former Bega mayor Kristy McBain running as the Labor candidate, comparing her to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"She has been such an amazing mayor throughout the crisis, we've really witnessed a young politician grow and come into herself," she said.

In the other corner of the electorate, real estate agent and Yass Business Chamber president Andrew Curlewis said the town of 17,000 people, an hour out of Canberra, was still busy - and while some businesses had been affected by COVID-19, many had been insulated from the crisis.

Mr Curlewis said when he speaks to other business representatives in parts of the electorate he feels "incredibly lucky".

"Honestly, obviously the pubs and clubs are closed but we have very little to complain about," he said.

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Until 2016, Eden-Monaro was considered a bellwether seat, electing a member of the party that would go on to form government. When Dr Kelly won the seat back in 2016 despite the return of a Coalition government, it lost that status.

It remains ultra-marginal, with Dr Kelly holding on by a whisker last year on a margin of just 1685 votes. Despite the strong personal vote for Dr Kelly, psephologist Kevin Bonham believes that will be made up by the swing that opposition governments usually experience in byelections.

"On average, it's Labor's to lose," Dr Bonham said.

"Concerning coronavirus, the first thing is we don't know to what extent it will be in the minds at the time the election is held, and the second thing is so far we don't have a lot of voting-intention polling.

"But so far what we're seeing in the Newspolls is approval for the government but not a big spike in voting intention. Nothing like what you saw after 9/11."

It also remains to be seen whether the bushfires, and the prominent role of the Labor candidate in the response, will have a marked effect on voting.

"It's a funny disconnected electorate in the sense of it radiating out from Canberra and having the ACT as an enclave, some parts of the electorate have no connection to other parts," he said.