What could swing voters in the crucial Eden-Monaro electorate

The battle for the sprawling seat has attracted more than $65 million worth of pre-election funding commitments from both sides of the aisle ahead of the May 3 federal poll.

Fierce competition between incumbent Labor MP Kristy McBain and Liberal challenger Jo van der Plaat has spilled over at early voting booths, with Ms McBain this week raising allegations of harassment and intimidation by Liberal Party volunteers.

A month ago, Ms van der Plaat's own campaign was hit, with her blue campaign bus alleged smeared with human faeces in Goulburn, an incident condemned by both sides and under investigation by NSW police.

She has pledged to advocate for "decency" in politics if she is elected to represent Eden-Monaro, which has 121,441 registered voters and stretches from the coastal towns of Bega, Merimbula and Pambula in the south to Thredbo in the west and, thanks to a recent redistribution, Goulburn in the north.

Labor volunteers say members of the Plymouth Brethren have been handing out how-to-vote cards for Ms van der Plaat, as in other seats where the Liberal Party has denied having any formal agreement with the controversial religious sect.

Ms van der Plaat told this masthead: "We have never asked volunteers or members what their religious beliefs are, nor do we ever intend to."

The carving off of areas west of Canberra from Yass to Victorian border, and addition of the conservative-leaning town of Goulburn, means Ms McBain's margin has shrunk from 8.2 to 6.2 per cent.

That makes it marginal enough for the Liberals to have Eden-Monaro in their sights and Ms van der Plaat has promised almost $24 million for local projects if Opposition Leader Peter Dutton becomes Prime Minister.

The seat is also being contested by Greens candidate Emma Goward, One Nation's Richard Graham, independents Brian Fischer and Andrew Thaler, HEART party and Wade Cox of billionaire Clive Palmer's new party Trumpet of Patriots.

The Coalition's pre-election cash splash has been almost doubled by Ms McBain, the Minister for Regional Development, who has held Eden-Monaro since the 2020 byelection to replace retiring former Labor MP Mike Kelly.

She's promised $41 million for local projects in her electorate if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins another term, from a playground in Pambula to the PCYC in Goulburn.

That's not including the promised new Medicare mental health centre in Queanbeyan and an urgent care clinic in Bega, which are not individually costed.

Ms van der Plaat, a Cooma lawyer, has been building her profile since being preselected 18 months ago, hitting country shows, fetes, markets and sporting clubs across the 32,000 sq km electorate.

She told The Canberra Times "out-of-control" increases to the cost of electricity and other essentials were the biggest concern she was hearing about from local businesses and residents, as well as the lack of GPs.

Ms McBain said the Albanese government had "a positive plan" to address the cost of living and that voters were rightfully concerned about Mr Dutton's plans to cut the Australian public service.

"That has been a big issue right across this electorate," she told this masthead.

"The Liberals continue to punch down on the Canberra public service, not realising that those public servants also work in regional NSW."

Both have identified patchy phone and internet reception as concerns for locals.

Labor has promised to force telcos to provide universal access, while the Coalition stands by its former mobile black spots grant program.

Ms van der Plaat has been joined on the campaign trail by Coalition frontbenchers from Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor - whose electorate of Hume previously included Goulburn - to Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, Coalition defence spokesperson Andrew Hastie and health spokeswoman Anne Ruston.

In January, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joined her and Mr Taylor to announce a $1.5 million pledge to upgrade the local hockey field - although he later confused the town he'd visited with Queanbeyan.

On Wednesday, former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard personally endorsed Ms van der Plaat in a video posted to social media, saying he "very strongly" supported her candidacy and praising the Cooma lawyer as "a true local".

While the cost-of-living crisis has given Ms van der Plaat a strong campaign message, questions about the Coalition's nuclear plan and promised crackdown on the Australian public service have posed challenges.

After previously saying she did not mind if a nuclear reaction was built in Eden-Monaro, Ms van der Plaat clarified for this story that the electorate "doesn't qualify for the scheme" because it is not home to an aging coal-fired power station.

Ms McBain said her rival had not been able to give voters in the electorate, which is home to commuter public servants, "a straight answer' when quizzed about the Coalition's APS policies.

Ms van der Plaat told The Canberra Times she had "fought hard for the rights of public servants that live in Eden-Monaro", after telling the ABC she had raised the APS workplace flexibility with Mr Dutton.

"Peter Dutton has been clear there will be no forced redundancies," she told this masthead.

"This is about making sensible improvements through hiring freezes and natural attrition. Any suggestions otherwise is a Labor scare campaign."