With just 34 days until the federal election, Nationals candidate for Richmond, Matthew Fraser, launched his campaign over the weekend at Chris Cunningham Park in Tweed Heads.
The launch was attended by around 100 supporters, including MPs, volunteers and party members, on the back of the NSW Nationals Conference, held nearby.
But while the would-be MP started his campaign call-to-action on a positive note, an attack on what he called Justine Elliot’s lack of action over funding for Tweed Hospital has brought an angry rebuke from the sitting Labor member.
Mr Fraser said that his biggest pitch for a positive local change will be the ‘lack of accountability in politics’.
‘People are genuinely sick of politicians working for big multinationals, big banks and big unions instead of locals like us,’ Mr Fraser said.
‘We deserve better than an MP who uses taxpayer-funded parliamentary entitlements on attack ads that have been made down in Canberra.
‘We deserve better than an MP who criticizes everyone on the Tweed Hospital but has made no official representations to current ministers.
‘This election is about who can actually deliver local projects in Government. If elected, I will make representations to absolutely everyone to secure local funding.
‘I will write letters, knock on doors, call for the funding on the floor of Parliament, and do whatever it takes to have our concerns heard,’ Mr Fraser said.
But current Labor Richmond MP Justine Elliot has blamed the state Nationals member the hospital cuts, accusing him of lying about funding to get re-elected.
‘I call on state Nationals member Geoff Provest to admit that he lied to get elected at the 2015 state election when he promised $48 million to upgrade the Tweed hospital when the money wasn’t there,’ she told Echonetdaily.
We now know that Geoff Provest and his state Liberal-Nationals government now have a $100 million funding black hole for the Tweed Hospital and the Nationals have no explanation as why Tweed Hospital’s funding has been cut.
‘The fact is the Nationals cannot be trusted with health and hospitals and Geoff Provest’s $48 million election lie proves it.
‘As the local MP, I’ll always fight to get our fair share from Canberra,’ Ms Elliot said.
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“‘People are genuinely sick of politicians working for big multinationals, big banks and big unions instead of locals like us,’ Mr Fraser said.”
is Hungry Jacks a big multinational ?
you are a hypocrite Mr. Fraser