While the date for the 2016 federal election is yet to be announced, politicians actual and aspiring are already out of the blocks, with the Northern Rivers seat of Page being an early focus for combat.
Highlighting that Page is a ‘bellwether seat’, and as such potentially winnable, Opposition leader Bill Shorten came to Lismore, Page’s major centre, on 10 March for an old-fashioned town hall meeting.
The event was organised by the former Member for Page Janelle Saffin who won the seat for Labor in 2007, and held it with an increased majority in 2010.
Three years later Page reverted to the Nationals, with the 6.7% swing to Kevin Hogan almost matching that gained by Ms Saffin the previous time around.
Ms Saffin, a lawyer, human rights activist (East Timor, Burma) and former Upper House MP in NSW, is recontesting the seat.
Several hundred party faithfuls and curious onlookers turned out to see how the alternative prime minister, somewhat stilted in television interviews, might acquit himself in a group setting.
As it happened Mr Shorten delivered a sincere, convincing and well received performance, devoid of the stock phrases he often issues to the cameras.
He was joined on stage by Ms Saffin and Member for Richmond Justine Elliott whose seat, clustered around the Tweed, now extends down to Ballina after a recent boundary adjustment.
Mr Shorten ranged across key issues such as employment, education, renewable energy, taxation, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), of which he was a prime mover, refugees, and, inevitably, health issues.
He staunchly defended the Medicare scheme, contrasting the Australian experience with that in the USA where 17 per cent of GDP is spent on health expenses but employers “still need to fund the health insurance of their staff.”
Praising Australia’s “functioning system”, he said that here “It’s a Medicare card not a credit card that ensures you get the care you need.” And it should stay this way.
On a campaigning note, he added that, “The pathway to Canberra is through a hundred town hall meetings like this”, rather than people taking heed of the often hostile newspaper editorials.
Closing the meeting, Janelle Saffin emphasised Mr Shorten’s role in the passage of the NDIS legislation, saying it was a program that Australians would be forever grateful for.
