Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the University of Western Sydney's Parramatta Campus. Picture: Sam Mooy Source: News Limited
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has told the voters of western Sydney the federal Labor government will make sure the area gets a fairer share of what its creates.
Ms Gillard was speaking to 1000 ALP members gathered in an auditorium at the University of Western Sydney's Parramatta campus.
She said being from the west does not mean someone was second rate.
"I want to make sure that areas like Sydney's west - and the people who live and work here - get a fairer share of what you create,'' she said.
"You deserve it because of your work and your endeavour.''
Prime Minister Julia Gillard arrives at the University of Western Sydney's Parramatta Campus. Picture: Sam Mooy
Western Sydney has the third biggest economy in Australia and a population of more than two million people.
It's also home to a handful of marginal federal Labor seats that the government could lose at the national election in September.
Ms Gillard referenced the federal Labor government's achievements in health, schools and the national broadband network project.
"Put simply, we don't accept that other suburbs come first and you come second,'' she said.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was in the area today for Clean up Australia Day, making his presence felt before Prime Minister Julia Gillard starts her week-long bid to capture hearts and minds in the key election battleground.
Mr Abbott said the Coalition had a "simple" plan for western Sydney, including cutting the cost of living by abolishing the carbon tax and taking the pressure off police through the use of CCTV in crime hotspots.
The Coalition would also sort out transport problems and address environmental issues with its Green Army proposal.
"I think it's really important that the people of Sydney and Australia - and of western Sydney in particular this week - know that there are people in our public life who have a plan for them," Mr Abbott told reporters at Auburn.
"This is a plan, not just a visit.
"I think that's what the people of western Sydney want, the people of Australia can see what our positive plans, what our real solutions are, for this country."
But Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten accused Abbott of being a copycat by visiting western Sydney in the same week as the PM.
Hitting back at criticism of Julia Gillard's five-day stint in Sydney's western suburbs, Mr Shorten said no one was attacking Abbott's drop-in visits.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he has a plan for Sydney's west. Picture: Kym Smith
''There's a bit of a double standard in the analysis," Mr Shorten told Network Ten today.
"Mr Abbott is reacting to what the Prime Minister is doing and no one thinks the worst of him."
Mr Shorten said imitation was the ''sincerest form of flattery".
He maintained Ms Gillard was governing from western Sydney and denied it was a stunt to rescue marginal Labor seats ahead of the September federal election.
Wilkie says no deal with ALP or Coalition
Meanwhile, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says he won't be entering any deal to support Labor or the Coalition after the next federal election.
Mr Wilkie won the Tasmanian seat of Denison on preferences in 2010 and backed the Gillard minority government in exchange for federal cash for his state's ailing health system and action on problem gambling.
But he withdrew his support in January last year after the Prime Minister reneged on her promise to him to implement major poker-machine reform.
Mr Wilkie today said he'd decided not to form an alliance with either of the major parties no matter who wins the September election.
He said in the case of another hung parliament he wouldn't block supply to whoever wins the majority of seats and forms government.
''All other votes, including motions of no-confidence, I'll approach on their merits," he said in a statement today.
Mr Wilkie is favoured to win Hobart-based Denison again on preferences despite reports of dealmaking between Labor and the Greens.
The PM is adamant Labor's candidate for the seat, Jane Austin, can win it back.
Labor held the seat for 23 years before Mr Wilkie's victory in 2010.
Mr Wilkie said his decision wouldn't affect Denison, adding he'd extracted just as much federal funding for Hobart since he withdrew support in 2012 as he had beforehand.
Since he withdrew his support for Labor, Mr Wilkie said he'd secured $325 million for Tasmania's health system, $50 million for Hobart railyards and $7.5 million for street lighting and the arts.
No comments:
Post a Comment