THE battleground is set for September’s federal election as Prime Minister Julia Gillard throws down the gauntlet to the Liberals’ newly announced Lalor candidate.
Ms Gillard, the MP for Lalor, has hit back at claims from her opponent, western suburbs lawyer Nihal Samara, that she had neglected the needs of her electorate.
Mr Samara said Ms Gillard had become too tied up with internal Labor Party politics and national electioneering, adding that she had lost touch locally.
But Ms Gillard pointed to her government’s multi-billion-dollar investment in the Regional Rail Link, $133 million for building projects at 57 Lalor schools, and $28 million for upgrades to Werribee Mercy Hospital as proof that her “priority has always been to listen to and fight for our local community”.
Following the $18 billion deficit in the 2013-14 budget, Mr Samara claimed Labor’s economic “mismanagement” was increasing cost of living pressures on Lalor families. He said the Tony Abbott-led coalition had “real solutions to get the budget back in black in a responsible manner”.
“In this circumstance, we have got a clear direction … we have got real solutions for ensuring that the cost of living doesn’t increase. We have seen that reflected with the Labor Government where they have simply failed, both at national level and locally here too.”
Ms Gillard said Labor had a track record of keeping the economy strong.
“Over the past five years, we created 950,000 jobs*. We have low unemployment. We have a AAA credit rating. And we have solid growth,” she said.
“The Liberal Party, on the other hand have nothing — no plan, no policies and no idea.”
Greens candidate for Lalor, Beck Sheffield-Brotherton, said only the Greens would offer a fresh voice and break away from the “trivial” politics of the Labor and Liberal parties.
* NOTE: An earlier version of this story quoted Ms Gillard saying her government had created 95,000 jobs. This was incorrect, she said her government had created 950,000 jobs.
