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10 THE WEEKLY TIMES Wednesday 13 December, 2017
Battle For Bennelong
By-Election Saturday December 16,2017
PM urges Bennelong
voters to return JA
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has used his solo appearance on the
ABC’s political panel program, Q&A, to plead for Bennelong voters to
again elect Liberal candidate John Alexander to the seat.
“Of course John Alexander
is recontesting
Bennelong on the
weekend,” Mr Turnbull
said.
“Everyone from Bennelong
that is watching,
remember to vote for
John Alexander - Australia’s
champion, Bennelong’s
champion.”
Mr Turnbull has so far
made two visits to the
Bennelong electorate,
the most recent on the
weekend to Top Ryde
where he met and chatted
with local shoppers
and business owners.
He was expected to
visit again on Tuesday
afternoon as The Weekly
Times was going to
press.
During his Top Ryde
visit, the PM criticised
Beijing for interfering
in domestic politics, a
stance thought to be
widely popular amongst
the Australian public but
possibly less so among
Bennelong voters, with
21 per cent of Chinese
heritage according to
the latest census data.
He also launched into
a stinging attack of Mr
Alexander’s opponent,
Labor’s star candidate
Kristina Keneally.
“She failed the people
of Bennelong as (NSW)
Premier,” Mr Turnbull
said.
“There’s no question
about that. She cancelled
the north-west
metro, she enabled
massive development
and didn’t build the infrastructure
to enable
the community to remain
liveable.
“It was a colossal failure
in policy, I think everybody
recognises that.
So she failed Bennelong
then.”
But Ms Keneally shot
back, accusing the PM
of failing to bring hope
or answers to the people
of Bennelong and
instead “he offered
attacks, he offered
smears and he offered
lies. It’s pathetic from
the Prime Minister.”
_“Remember when
Malcolm Turnbull came
to office there was so
much hope for him?”
she said.
“He used to stand up
for what he believed in.
He’s shrunken in the
job. He’s a shrunken
Prime Minister.”
Prior to appearing on
Q&A, Mr Turnbull said
losing the Bennelong
by-election would make
governing the country
difficult.
“We’d be down to 75
votes-all in the house
and it would be very
precarious,” he said.
The PM then launched
into an attack of Labor
candidate Kristina Keneally,
who has accused
Mr Turnbull of alarming
rhetoric amounting to
“China-phobia”.
“Kristina Keneally I see
is trying to play this up
and suggest that I of
all people am anti-Chinese.
That just shows
how desperate she is,”
Mr Turnbull said.
“If Kristina Keneally
were to win in Bennelong
not only would you
be allowing her to do in
Bennelong what she did
in NSW, you’d be bringing
Bill Shorten closer to
the prime ministership.”
Former
PM’s visit
Mr Turnbull has been
one of many Liberal
Party luminaries to visit
Bennelong during the
campaign in recent
weeks.
There have been
sightings of former PM
and member for Warringah,
Tony Abbott, and
recently re-elected New
England MP Barnaby
Joyce during their ‘under
the radar’ visits to
It’s all smiles from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who backed the Liberal Party during Monday night’s appearance
on the ABC’s Q & A program.
Bennelong.
And front-benchers
who have actively
campaigned alongside
Mr Alexander include
Energy Minister Josh
Frydenberg, Treasurer
Scott Morrison, Deputy
PM and Foreign Affairs
Minister Julie Bishop,
Justice Minister Michael
Keenan and Social Services
Minister Christian
Porter.
So it came as no surprise
that former prime
minister John Howard,
who held the seat of
Bennelong for 33 years
before he was unseated
by Maxine McKew in
2007, also made an appearance.
“It’s not going to be a
walkover, it’s going to
be very tough,” he conceded.
“The Labor party is
throwing massive re-
sources. They’ve got a
candidate who they may
think is very popular but
there’s a lot of people
who remember she was
the last of a long line of
failed Labor premiers of
NSW.
“You’ve got the resources
of the Labor
Party, of GetUp!, of the
union and a candidate
for the Labor Party who
has a high profile.”
He praised Mr Alexander’s
honesty in renouncing
his British citizenship
ties, Mr Howard
said the former tennis
star was as “dinky-di”
as they come.
“It is unbelievable
when you think that his
tralia before WWI and
he represented Australia
in the Davis Cup,” Mr
there’s a doubt but it’s
father emigrated to Aus-
Howard said.
“If ever
dinky-di
John Alexander.
there was
Aussie,
And
a
it’s
yet
the law.”
ADVERTISEMENT
How to make your vote count in the Bennelong
by-election on Saturday 16 December 2017
When you vote in the by-election in the federal electoral Division of Bennelong, you’ll
be given a green ballot paper.
Number every box
There are 12 candidates in the Bennelong by-election. For your vote to count you need
to consecutively number every box from 1 to 12 in the order of your choice.
You must put a ‘1’ in the box beside the candidate who is your first choice, ‘2’ in the
box beside your second choice and so on, until you have numbered every box.
Be careful, you must number every box for your vote to count.
What if I make a mistake?
If you get it wrong, don’t worry; just ask for another ballot paper and start again.
Go to www.aec.gov.au or call 13 23 26 for more information.
To check if you’re enrolled to vote in the electoral division of Bennelong,
go to www.aec.gov.au/check or call 13 23 26.
You can practise voting at www.aec.gov.au/practise-voting
Liberal candidate re-contesting Bennelong John Alexander with Federal Treasurer
Scott Morrison and NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrotet discussing business matters
with the proprietor of Ultra Tune at Macquarie Park
Division of Bennelong House of Representatives by-election,
Saturday 16 December 2017
www.aec.gov.au/Bennelong 13 23 26
NEW BENNELONG ENGLAND
BY-ELECTION
2017
0280RJ
Authorised by Warwick Austin, Australian Electoral Officer for New South Wales,
Level 10, 59 Goulburn Street, Haymarket, NSW
Former Prime Minister John Howard visited Eastwood last week to show his support
for John Alexander.