A SENIOR Andrews Labor Government source says sitting Coalition member Roma Britnell is in danger of losing her seat to one of the three independent candidates in next month’s state election.
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The senior source said so-called “blue collar conservative” voters are turning against Liberal and National members across Australia, most recently in byelections such as Wagga and the 2014 result in Shepparton.
And the source dropped a bombshell, urging these voters not to vote for Labor, but to vote for the independents.
“These generational, lower-income conservative voters are not voting for Labor, they’re voting for independents,” he said.
“They’re stuck in the slower parts of the economy in ultra-conservative regional seats that have suffered decades of economic neglect.
“The conservative sitting members don’t get access to Labor government funding and when conservative governments get elected they do nothing.
“Look at the economies of Ballarat and Bendigo over the last 10 years. With the right representation and support from the Bracks and Brumby Labor governments they have transformed from old to new, from agribusiness to financial management and more.
“More people travel into Bendigo for work than are travelling out. Shepparton has won a great deal of attention and funding for itself. But in places like Warrnambool it’s a double whammy. Textiles was once a major employer but nothing has been done to compensate since then,” he said.
Mrs Britnell said she was focused on results.
“I’ll leave political commentary to political commentators,” she said.
“I’m working hard with my team to deliver high speed rail, we will get on and upgrade the Warrnambool Base Hospital, we’ll provide $610,000 for a new home base for Warrnambool and District Food Share and $3.5 million for a new joint CFA/SES base in Port Fairy.”
The senior Labor figure said the decisive swinging voters in Shepparton were low-income conservative voters. “The independent member for Shepparton received the most support from low-income earners who had always voted conservative irrespective of their financial health,” he said.
“Labor is paying close attention to the south-west. We understand there are large groups of lower-income workers who haven’t got their fair share in the south-west and whose parents and grandparents vote conservatively. They won’t vote Labor so the only way to get change is to vote for the independents, or at least make it marginal. If they put the Liberals last on November 24 it’s the only way to make sure the people of the south-west get the funding they deserve.”
The senior source said if re-elected the Labor government would work closely with an independent to get a better deal for the south-west.
“A good example is how we have worked with (upper house member) James Purcell, obviously we’ll have a better relationship with an independent than our traditional political opponents.”