PM Julia Gillard will be heading back to Sydney's west to boost morale ahead of the September federal election. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: Herald Sun
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is to head back to western Sydney to help boost the morale of NSW MPs and candidates ahead of the September federal election.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the NSW ALP head office has organised a special one-day meeting at Parramatta's Rydges Hotel for Saturday, May 25.
Top secret invitations have been sent to MPs, candidates and campaign teams, requesting confirmation of attendance.
Ms Gillard is to deliver a special address at the meeting, while Labor luminaries such as former prime minister Bob Hawke have also been invited to attend.
With the latest polls showing Labor will almost be wiped out in NSW, party officials are privately worried at the motivation levels of its team.
A Labor source said the one-day boot camp was more about lifting morale than passing on campaigning advice with many candidates and MPs having already begun door-knocking once the September 14 election date was announced.
"This is definitely more about the Prime Minister helping to boost morale," the source said.
"It is more about rallying the troops as everyone knows this will be the fight of our lives."
Both NSW incumbents and candidates together with their campaign teams have been ordered to attend the 9.30am to 4.30pm meeting.
The Sunday Telegraph has been told high-profile NSW figures such as Senator Bob Carr have also been invited.
The so-called boot camp will also include afternoon training sessions on campaigning strategies to win over disaffected voters in former Labor heartland seats.
Candidates have also been told to expect to have their portraits taken.
A Labor source said the date of the meeting was chosen following an indication from Ms Gillard's officer of her availability and alerts were emailed to members.
Party officials were initially to hold the meeting at the Novotel Hotel but were last week making preparations to change to a larger room at the Rydges Hotel.
The pre-election boot camps have become a tradition within the NSW ALP under general secretary Sam Dastyari, serving to bolster the morale of the team as much as deliver practical campaigning advice.
In the lead-up to the 2010 Federal election, Mr Hawke told candidates to reach out to voters in pubs.
The boot camp will be the first time Ms Gillard has returned to western Sydney since her "listening tour" when she was based at Rooty Hill RSL last month. Some Labor figures believe the election could leave the ALP with a handful of the 26 seats out of the 48 Federal seats it holds in NSW.
The party is yet to finalise pre-selections, leaving controversial seats such as Dobell, held by former Labor MP Craig Thomson, undecided.
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