On the last day of January, the Campbell Newman LNP Queensland government narrowly lost to Labor in what was seen as a decisive rejection of the sale of public assets.
With NSW Premier Mike Baird taking the sale of 49 per cent of our electricity network to the March 28 state election, his MPs in western Sydney seats would be feeling a bit uncomfortable.
A week is a long time in politics. Last week, the Liberals still had a fighting chance to hold some of the western Sydney seats it scooped from Labor at the 2011 election with a 25 per cent swing.
The general feeling among local pundits last week was that the Liberals would hold Parramatta, given Geoff Lee’s 12 per cent margin, and had a fighting chance in Granville where Tony Issa has a loyal following.
That quickly changed after the Campbell Newman defeat to Labor’s Annastasia Palaszczuk.
ABC election expert Antony Green now sees all of the traditional Labor western Sydney seats returning to Labor, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. However, the Coalition will hold on to power, by only two seats, Green said
Last week, the only western Sydney seats that seemed like definite Labor wins were Prospect and Blue Mountains.
Mr Baird, while hoping voters can see the difference between him and Prime Minister Tony Abbott, is still sticking up for the beleagured leader.
Meanwhile, new Labor Opposition Leader Luke Foley, who is the candidate in the safe Labor seat of Auburn after sitting MP Barbara Perry stepped aside, is rubbing his hands with glee.
“Tony Abbott, Campbell Newman and Mike Baird are peas in a pod,” Mr Foley told the media.
But Mr Baird said his power privatisation agenda was different as he would take it to the election for voters to decide.
He has tied the proceeds of the sale to specific infrastructure programs while Campbell Newman was using his sale of public assets to pay off the state debt.
Labor candidates in Granville and Parramatta are Parramatta councillors Julia Finn and James Shaw respectively.
Feedback from the community is that they are not outstanding candidates but would be helped in the swing to Labor.
Making the election even more interesting is colourful councillor Paul Garrard running as an independent in Auburn.
Mr Garrard ran in Granville in the 2011 election and helped topple Labor’s David Borger by splitting the Labor vote and delivering the seat to Tony Issa.
Even before the Queensland result, Mr Garrard did not think Mr Issa would retain the seat.
“In the redistribution, the seat lost South Granville, which has a high Muslim population that supported Issa last time,’’ Mr Garrard said. “Also, he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in four years.”
In a recent interview with WSBA, both Mr Baird and Mr Foley did not want to predict how they would fare in the west.
They both said they would be “fighting for every vote in western Sydney”.
“The road to government for Labor absolutely goes through seats like Granville and we will be fighting very hard to win the confidence of these local communities,” Mr Foley said.
Mr Baird, who like Mr O’Farrell before him, is also Minister for Western Sydney, split his Australia Day between Parramatta and Penrith.
Mr Foley, in a prepared statement, said the main issue for him in the west was addressing the jobs deficit and the Coalition state and federal cuts to health and education.
“People will also have to make a decision - which party will invest in hospitals, schools and TAFE and stand up to Tony Abbott’s cuts,” Mr Foley said.
“The Abbott and Baird cuts are not sustainable in Western Sydney where the population is projected to grow by another 900,000 by 2031,” Mr Foley said.
How the west will swing. Election expert Antony Green’s assessment after Queensland election.
- Parramatta- Labor regain by small margin
- Granville- back to Labor with 9.7 pc margin
- Blue Mountains - Labor regain
- Prospect- Labor
- Londonderry- Labor regain
- Mulgoa- Labor regain, just
- Hawkesbury- Liberal marginal
- Holsworthy- close call
- Liverpool-Labor retain
