PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says Wyndham voters will have a clear choice between “two contending visions of the future” when they go to the polls on September 14.
In arguing the case for Labor to be given government for another term, Ms Gillard told the Weekly her policies would bring massive benefits to residents of her Lalor electorate, citing the DisabilityCare insurance scheme, National Broadband Network rollout and plans to boost funding to local schools through the Gonski reforms.
But she said many were still works in progress and were at risk of being cut back if the Coalition took government. “For us to deliver the future we think Australia deserves . . . we have to keep implementing the plans we’ve announced,” she said.
The Liberal Party’s newly named candidate for Lalor, Nihal Samara, has accused the prime minister of losing touch with the needs of her electorate, saying she had become too tied up with internal Labor Party politics and national electioneering.
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 solutions to get the budget back in the black.
Ms Gillard said Labor had spearheaded groundbreaking reforms like DisabilityCare, which would benefit 4100 residents in the Lalor electorate spanning Wyndham, Melton and part of Hobsons Bay.
Although every state government except WA has agreed to the scheme, with launch sites set to start in July, Ms Gillard said there was a “mountain of work” to make sure it became a reality.
