John Howard visited both Bathurst and Lithgow yesterday for the first time as Prime Minister. Why Howard is wasting his time campaigning in the seat of Macquarie is nothing short of a mystery. The Coalition would need a TPP vote of 53.3% their way to retain the seat, and it would take nothing short of a miracle for that to happen. The fundraising lunch at the Carrington wine bar in Bathurst was the location for the announcement of an audacious but sly election promise.
A promise of $10 million for a feasibility study into the Bells Line Expressway, a significant local concern for Macquarie voters, was met with cheers of approval at the fundraiser. The catch? Well, aside from the fact that the study does not carry any obligation to actual road improvements, was that the State Government would have to match the price. Something that Howard knew wasn’t going to happen.
The Bells Line of Road was one of the biggest election issues for the people of the seats of Bathurst and the Blue Mountains in March’s State Election, yet there were no such election promises made there. The NSW Government is running at a deficit, and the incredibly costly project was just too big to deal with. Howard’s promise yesterday makes him out to be the hero, and the NSW Government out to be the bad guys.
The electorate won’t fall for it. The redistribution of seats has seen the Liberal-voting areas of Macquarie shorn off in favour of the hardcore Labor towns of Bathurst and Lithgow. What’s more, Labor is running former state minister Bob Debus in the seat. If I were sitting member Kerry Bartlett, I would be actively looking for a job somewhere else, because he stands no chance of keeping is seat. Ben Chifley’s seat is heading back to Labor for the first time in 11 years.
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