Flushed with success PT2M58S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2tkdq 620 349 September 12, 2013 - 6:36AM Sophie Mirabella's hopes of holding her seat in Indi received another setback with the surprise discovery that 1000 pre-poll votes had gone to rival Cathy McGowan. Fairfax Media was with Ms McGowan when word came through that the head scrutineer in Wangaratta had been called to a meeting with the Australian Electoral Commission and told a clerical error had temporarily lost the 1000 votes. Ms McGowan, who was lunching with three of her eight sisters in a Beechworth bakery, flushed and became emotional. For the first time, it seemed the dream of winning might come true. It's possible, isn't it? Almost there: Cathy McGowan in Beechworth on the day 1000 missing pre-poll votes in her favour were discovered. The bonus votes were found during a recount and could be enough to turn this reluctant candidate - who has spent 25 years lobbying on regional issues, and in the early 1980s was a researcher for the then incumbent, Liberal Ewen Cameron - into an MP with a rural-issues agenda. As she gathered her thoughts, her media adviser Campbell Klose, 25, who has driven the social media campaign to sell Ms McGowan as a fresh start for an electorate that has been all but owned by conservatives since Federation, said: "It's been such a roller-coaster ... but if we have these extra 1000 votes, it may well get us across the line." Also seemingly lost, at least from view, is Ms Mirabella, who has apparently been keeping a low profile at her rural home on the northern outskirts of Wangaratta. "Where's Sophie?" has become a running joke among the locals, largely because many feel Ms Mirabella has been absent from view for much of her 12 years as their elected representative. And since it became apparent she might lose the seat - which she has occupied since 2001 - the joke has taken a more celebratory tone. For motel owners Garry and Josie Swaine, Ms Mirabella's lack of availability has been a source of angst. Six years ago, the couple promised to adopt Mrs Swaine's then unborn Filipina niece, to save the girl from being aborted. Attempts to adopt her from within Australia proved fruitless, so the couple adopted her in the Philippines, named her Hazel and have spent thousands of dollars on lawyers and failed visa applications to bring her to Australia. They kept trying to get a meeting with their local member. "We've never been able to get past her secretary," Mr Swain said. If you can't even have a conversation with your local member, what chance have you got of being heard further up the chain? We're not young people. What would 10 minutes of her time cost her? The couple once took the girl on a holiday to Hong Kong. She said, 'Mummy, is this Australia?' But we can't bring her here, even for a holiday.