Incumbents bet on a red tide tonight
IT has been a challenging 28day campaign for Townsville’s three Labor MPs but the trio is determined to work for reelection up until 6pm today when counting begins.
Mundingburra’s Coralee O’Rourke, Thuringowa’s Aaron Harper and Townsville’s Scott Stewart said they would continue rallying supporters in an effort to secure every possible vote.
Ms O’Rourke said she had been on the ground talking to thousands of constituents.
“All the conversations have been predominantly issuesbased,” she said.
“It’s been great to have those conversations, talking to them ( voters) about what we’ve done and what we still have planned to do.”
The Minister Assisting the Premier on North Queensland said she still had more work to do.
Mr Stewart said the Labor MPs had been out doorknocking for weeks.
“We’ve been talking to people over the last three years,” he said. “We’ve seen Towns- ville go through some of the toughest times over the last three years.
“We have a Palaszczuk Government which is invested in this city.
“We’re starting to see the economy move and confidence coming back into the city.
“That’s why Labor needs to get back in.”
When asked whether he thought the local campaign had been “dirty”, Mr Scott said campaigns brought out the best and the worst in people.
“I’ve made sure that I’ve been very straight, I’ve been very positive around my campaign,” he said.
Mr Harper said his gut feeling was people in Thuringowa wanted Labor to keep delivering.
“Has it been challenging, yes,” he said. “But I think when people see Riverway Dve ( duplication) actually happening, they want more and I’ll deliver more.
“At the end of the day, today people will have that clear choice – a Labor Government that offers stability.”
Mr Harper said he had a track record Thuringowa.
“Now is also the time for certainty particularly for industry and the community to get on with delivering jobs,” he said. “We came in with a skilled labour unemployment rate post ( Campbell) Newman.
“We need to keep trending down, we need jobs for locals. “We have a solid policy. “When people have jobs they feel proud. I haven’t felt pressure from One Nation.
“It’s ( One Nation) just not coming up on the doorsteps and on the phones.” of delivering in