Liberal senator Zed Seselja warns against 'risk' of independent David Pocock after adverse polls

Two new voter intention polls by Labor leaning pollsters Redbridge group, commissioned by climate-focused fundraising group Climate 200, show Senator Seselja at 25 and 24 per cent of the primary vote, well short of the required 33.3 per cent seat quota.

The polls, one of 707 respondents conducted by telephone interviews (CATI) and the other a "robocall" survey of 1331 people on March 24 and March 22 respectively, show preferences will play a big part in the final result.

Senator Seselja has not contested the polling, which shows the Greens in a slightly stronger primary vote position than Mr Pocock, but indicates the former Wallabies captain, at 11 and 13 per cent, could be in a winning position if he received strong preference flows from Labor and fellow independent Kim Rubenstein.

The Liberal senator said Mr Pocock is too much of a risk for ACT voters.

"This is the most important election in a generation," he told The Canberra Times.

"It is not the time to risk handing over power to an extreme Labor-Greens-Green Independent Alliance, and make no mistake Pocock sits on the Extinction Rebellion end of the extreme Greens.

"Australia is facing an increasingly complex national security environment, and the economy is recovering from COVID. This is not the time to risk the higher taxes and weakened national security of a Labor-Green-Green Independent Alliance."

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Senator Seselja has repeatedly cited Mr Pocock's arrest eight years ago near a NSW coal mine, including being "locked on" to a mining super digger, as evidence of his radical nature, but the independent candidate remains proud of his past environmental actions.

The polling shows ALP frontbencher Katy Gallagher comfortably reaching the quota with 37 and 35 per cent of the vote.

That's down from her 2019 result of 39.3 per cent, but the polls show a bigger dent in the vote for Senator Seselja who received 33.3 per cent of the vote in 2013, 33.1 per cent in 2016 and dipped below quota to 32.4 per cent in 2019.

The polling shows the Greens with candidate Tjanara Goreng Goreng at a primary vote of 14 and 15 per cent, independent Kim Rubenstein at 7 and 6 per cent and the Clive Palmer UAP candidate James Savoulidis at 2 percent on the CATI poll and 7 per cent on the robocall poll.

Mr Pocock is shown to take a significant bite into the votes of all candidates and is seen to be capturing traditional Seselja supporters, for example being more popular with male voters at 12 per cent and people who earn more than $120,000 at 19 per cent of the vote.

The Redbridge polling was conducted for Climate 200, which is backing a national field of independents at the federal election.

In the ACT, Climate 200 has given seed money to both Mr Pocock and Professor Rubenstein to assist their campaigns.

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