{"id":8729,"date":"2013-08-22T14:03:10","date_gmt":"2013-08-22T04:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=8729"},"modified":"2022-05-02T00:42:54","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T14:42:54","slug":"alp-hands-off-in-macarthur-lisakremmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/alp-hands-off-in-macarthur-lisakremmer\/","title":{"rendered":"ALP hands off in Macarthur: @LisaKremmer reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Lisa Kremmer<\/a> @LisaKremmer<\/a><\/p>\n

22 August 2013<\/p>\n

Having the opportunity to write about the election from the comfort of my backyard has been an interesting experience for a number of reasons.\u00a0 For one, it\u2019s given me some insight into the people who live here, they are after all the voters who will help decide the outcome.\u00a0 So often in the hubbub of daily life, I don\u2019t take the time to look around me and take stock.<\/p>\n

This is a region of contrasts in Sydney’s west.\u00a0 On one side of the electoral hill, in Macarthur, is Blairmount, a middle-class suburb surrounded by scenic landscape.\u00a0 Most of the houses are privately owned.\u00a0 The median household income is $1299.50 per week, and unemployment is five per cent. (source:\u00a0 http:\/\/about.nsw.gov.au\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"The-other-side-of-the-hill-from-the-housing-commission\"<\/p>\n

On the other side, in the seat of Werriwa, is the suburb of Claymore.\u00a0 Most of the houses are owned by Housing NSW.\u00a0 The median household income is $588 per week, and 31 per cent are unemployed (source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census 2011)<\/p>\n

\"Campbelltown-housing-commission\"<\/p>\n

Social disadvantage is a critical issue, especially around Campbelltown.\u00a0 Having coal-seam gas (CSG) wells around Camden, environmental and industry policies are important.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been monitoring the campaign itself as it appears at a local level.\u00a0 Surprisingly, there\u2019s very little evidence that there is an election campaign in progress.\u00a0 While there are corflutes for the Liberal candidate, we\u2019re not being overrun, and there aren\u2019t any on display for the ALP candidate Ian Fulton.\u00a0 If I didn\u2019t avidly devour the news from all media sources, I\u2019d be hard pressed to know there was an election coming.\u00a0 Two letterbox drops from the Liberal candidate, and none from any other candidate or party.<\/p>\n

What do I want to ask the candidates? \u00a0There are simply too many critically important areas where imprudent action at a federal level could have a significant impact, and not for the better.\u00a0 Areas such as climate change, CSG, public health services, education reforms, the NDIS, the treatment of refugees, industrial relations, affordable housing, the economy and free trade agreements.<\/p>\n

While out on the campaign trail, I ran into Ian Fulton at a Kevin Rudd campaign event in Northmead.\u00a0 Ian seems to me to be a quiet, articulate yet unassuming fellow.\u00a0 During this campaign, I\u2019ve grappled with the changing face of the electorate and the driving forces of those who would seek to represent us, questioning why some people want to enter politics.\u00a0 I asked Ian why he was standing – equity and opportunity for every Australian, a fair go and helping others when they\u2019re down and out of luck, he said.\u00a0 While Ian doesn\u2019t have a war chest to fund his campaign, or to throw money at local causes, he spoke about the needs of Macarthur residents with a deep level of understanding.<\/p>\n

Ian runs his own small business, being the franchisee of Aussie Home Loans in Queen Street, Campbelltown.\u00a0 The irony is not lost on me.\u00a0 A small business operator running for the ALP, and a printer\/police officer as the sitting member representing the Liberal Party.\u00a0 Both are decent people and would make good representatives of this electorate, but in days gone by, it would have been the reverse \u2013 business interests clearly aligned with conservative politics, and workers firmly aligned with the Labor Party.\u00a0 How times have changed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting that the ALP machine has chosen a hands-off approach to the Macarthur electorate \u2013 with only a three per cent margin on a two-party preferred basis, it\u2019s not a done deal and is a winnable seat for the ALP, but that would require local campaigning.\u00a0 The flow of preferences will be worth watching, especially with candidates from Katter\u2019s Australian Party and Palmer United Party coming to the fray.\u00a0 The Greens polled 5.6% last time, with a 1.3% swing in their favour.\u00a0 How this will pan out on September 7 is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n

More Macarthur stories<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Lisa Kremmer @LisaKremmer 22 August 2013 Having the opportunity to write about the election from the comfort of my backyard has been an interesting experience for a number of reasons.\u00a0 For one, it\u2019s given me some insight into the people who live here, they are after all the voters who will help decide the outcome.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3434,3546,66,585,1152,1153],"tags":[1239,2659,1238,1237,1154,2657],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/The-other-side-of-the-hill-from-the-housing-commission.jpg?fit=600%2C448&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t0mw-2gN","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56971,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions\/56971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}