Candidate: ‘We’ve lost our way’
A LABOR candidate warned members the party had “lost its way” and was out of favour with long-term supporters.
Straight-talking senior Coast ALP identity Gail Hislop gave an honest and brutal account of the party’s support at a meeting of a Burleigh branch just a month ago before being preselected.
She said members across various factions were “not happy” with the ALP and longterm supporters believed “Labor had lost its way”.
Ms Hislop cautioned that a candidate was only as a good as those who backed them and the branch would need to launch a massive campaign drive to raise funds.
LNP Burleigh MP Michael Hart yesterday used the comments to launch an attack on Ms Hislop as the pair fight out the biggest personal political battle on the Glitter Strip.
Mr Hart beat Ms Hislop after a bitter campaign in 2015 but under recent electoral boundary changes his margin has been reduced from 6.2 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
“Labor has taken the Gold Coast for granted for three years and even their own candidates know that,” he said.
Ms Hislop laughed when asked about her comment and launched into a tirade about Mr Hart’s tactics. “Sorry for me laughing. I think the LNP are shaking in their boots ... He knows that I’m right sniffing down the back of his collar. And I reckon I’m going to win it and he will use any dirty trick.”