THE danger for Julia Gillard's five-day foray ("The western front", 27/2) is that people living in western Sydney will feel as though she is treating them as if they were exotic creatures contained in a zoo. I wonder if the people of Rooty Hill and Mount Druitt will appreciate being put under a magnifying glass for Labor's election prospects. Wouldn't they be justified in asking, where has Gillard been for the past couple of years?
It's fine for Gillard to campaign there - if she doesn't, she would effectively be conceding defeat. But this visit has the hallmarks of a stunt, one that was cooked up in Labor's back offices by machine men desperate for a game-changer.
Harold Smith, Adelaide, SA
EVERY other day for the past year or so, Tony Abbott could be seen wearing a fluoro vest, playing at being a worker and putting across the message he cares, not forgetting Abbott was part of a government that introduced Work Choices. He realised his part in that great mistake, even if some of his Coalition colleagues haven't. There wasn't a peep out of commentators for what I would call a series of stunts.
Julia Gillard's western Sydney stunt has the same political motives - to reassure the heartland that Labor still cares and proves it with policies that address their needs.
While several policy areas have gone awry, there are mitigating factors such as vested interests on the mining tax and carbon tax.
Shane Fisher, Goodna, Qld
I WISH Julia Gillard well in her western Sydney travels, but respectfully suggest more would be gained by staying at Kirribilli House and travelling to and around western Sydney using different modes of private and public transport each day while personally paying all travel costs.
At the end of five days, Gillard would have little change in her purse and would have spent most of her time travelling and would have realised that Sydneysiders can no longer afford NSW and federal Labor on top of their normal time and travel cost pressures.
Gerard Barry, Roseville, NSW
SHUTTING the stable door after the horse is gone is what we have come to expect from this Prime Minister. She has the hide to swan into the west and expect to be welcomed as a benefactor while treating residents as hillbillies who are going to listen to her in awe as she makes more of those promises she can't or won't keep.
The Labor Party in Western Australia has made it plain they don't want Gillard or Wayne Swan within 1000km of the state while their election is going on, so why should the citizens of western Sydney suffer what will amount to a home invasion by a team of unwanted guests?
David J. Syme, Mollymook, NSW
JULIA Gillard said the federal election campaign wouldn't get started until August, but now she proposes to go to western Sydney, conducting a presidential-style campaign. For the next seven months we are going to be bombarded with all kinds of political promises. But can we believe anything she says?
Tony Abbott will be drawn into the premature campaign, and will have to respond to Gillard's promises, as her popularity slumps in the polls. Perhaps she will be able to pull a trick and get re-elected. Does it matter who gets to live at the Lodge after September? We know their promises often disappear like dust in a wind storm.
Jay Nauss, Glen Aplin, Qld
MAYBE Julia Gillard is genuinely interested in the people of western Sydney, but her visit is probably too late to save her political ship. Most would see the government's problems being far greater than local issues. Kevin Rudd's good government that lost direction was erratic and wasteful but Gillard has made it worse.
Brian Whybrow, Kambah, ACT
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