RED ARMY ON MARCH IN MARGINAL SEATS
AN army of red is set to descend on the marginal seats of Bonney and Gaven in an effort to gain Labor a foothold on the Gold Coast.
In Bonney, where Rowan Hozlberger is attempting to win the seat for Labor, 529 people have put up their hand to help his campaign.
In Gaven, Labor candidate Meaghan Scanlon is commanding a group of about 20 “dedicated” volunteers in her battle with the LNP’s Sid Cramp. The Bulletin was told hundreds more volunteers are waiting in the wings.
“We probably have about 20 really committed volunteers who have been doorknocking every weekend,” Ms Scanlon said.
Those helping are mostly Labor Party members who live in the area.
“I don’t want to be trying to take volunteers from other areas,” Ms Scanlon said.
Mr Hozlberger said he had 529 volunteers and had been doorknocking the area since June.
His LNP opponent Sam O’Connor has between 20 to 30 active volunteers in the area but more are expected to come on board.
Griffith University political expert Adjunct Professor Stephen Stockwell said 500 was “a lot” of people to have mobilised.
“If you have 500 people working a couple of times a week on your campaign, it’s a massive organisational challenge but it also give you a lot of reach into your community,” he said.
Prof Stockwell said it would be hard to combat those kind of numbers when it came to covering the electorates through doorknocking, pamphlet dropping and at the booths on polling day.
He said he expected all parties to amass larger volunteer groups the closer it got to November 25.