Our man in Bennelong scores the campaign and finds a crowd of winners

[clear] By Jack Sumner September 6, 2013 Eastwood’s Rowe Street Plaza is always busy, lively and a pleasant place to shop or just sit and chill. As a band played, the Bennelong candidates’ support teams were out in force last weekend to win votes with a leaflet, a smile and a balloon. Regardless of who […]

Bennelong candidates forum: @preciouspress reports

By Jack Sumner 31 August 2013 Seven of the eight candidates were on stage for a public forum organised by the Northern District Times this week. Missing was DLP candidate Lachlan McCaffrey, who plays rugby for Eastwood and was training in preparation for Shute Shield finals this weekend. His father Simon, the DLP Senate candidate, came […]

No Fibs Bennelong reporter @preciouspress counters Paul Sheehan race attack on @jasonyatsenli

By Jack Sumner 29 August 2013 In the Sydney Morning Herald today Paul Sheehan wrote “Labor pulls out race card in bid to win over Chinese“. His flimsy justification for this serious allegation is: “During the 2007 campaign, Labor shamelessly played the race card in Bennelong against Howard, emphasising Rudd’s fluency in Mandarin, his links to […]

The Greens’ face in Bennelong: @preciouspress interview

By Jack Sumner 15 August 2013 On August 13, Greens candidate Lindsay Peters handed out leaflets at Epping Station before putting in a full day’s work at the software company he co-founded in 1996. In his lounge room that evening, he spoke to me about his commitment to the Greens and the Bennelong campaign. Lindsay said […]

Alexander talks up 24-hour spy cameras in low-crime Bennelong

By Jack Sumner 5 August 2013 The July 10 edition of the local Weekly Times featured Cameras to zoom in on racism, in which federal MP John Alexander proposed that the federal government pay for CCTV cameras on shop awnings in Rowe Street, Eastwood, in the heart of his Bennelong electorate in Sydney’s northern suburbs. Why? […]

Bennelong MP falters on Abbott’s switcheroo as teachers demand more on education policy

By Jack Sumner August 4, 2013 Tony Abbott’s change of heart on Labor’s Gonski reforms for school funding came a tad late for John Alexander, the Liberal MP for John Howard’s old seat of Bennelong in Sydney’s northern suburbs. The former tennis great fronted a “meet-the-candidates” forum organised by the Ryde-Macquarie branch of the NSW […]

The drama of Bennelong: You couldn’t make it up

By Jack Sumner 28 July 2013 The worldwide popularity of political dramas Borgen, House of Cards and West Wing relies upon discerning audiences relating to their storylines. The plot outlined below would severely test the credulousness of any viewers. A prime minister, dumped by his party after he ended its 11 years in opposition, is […]

Representative of Bennelong: @awelder comment

By Andrew Elder 22 July 2013 The federal electorate of Bennelong is used to a representative with real clout, someone of national significance rather than someone who means well and is content to do their best. Labor’s endorsement of Jason Yat-Sen Li as their candidate for the electorate is in line with that record. Too […]

The battle joined in Bennelong: @preciouspress reports

  By Jack Sumner (@preciouspress) 21 July 2013 My July 1 report Will there be a Battle for Bennelong  asked whether the Rudd redux might cause Sam Dastyari and NSW Labor to re-categorise Bennelong as a winnable seat, allocate funds accordingly and insert a candidate with the wherewithal to win. On July 19 the answer came […]

Bennelong gets complicated: @preciouspress reports

By Jack Sumner 15 July 2013 I am told that since his selection as Labor candidate for Bennelong, Jeff Salvestro-Martin has worked hard on the development of campaign plans. Whatever they are, even his most ardent supporters and certainly the ALP powerbrokers in Sussex Street hadn’t believed they would be successful. Then on 27 June Rudd […]