Battle for Bennelong gets brutal as Liberals link Kristina Keneally to jailed former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid
BENNELONG candidate Kristina Keneally had some stinging comments for Malcolm Turnbull after the Liberals launched a new smear website, kristinakeneally.com.
NSW
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KRISTINA Keneally slammed Malcolm Turnbull as a “fool” for purchasing the Liberals’ new smear website, kristinakeneally.com.
The Labor candidate made the stinging comments during a joint press conference this afternoon with Bill Shorten and Shadow Health Minister Catherine King at Ryde Hospital, which she claimed had suffered $6 million in cuts under the Liberals.
Ms Keneally said the new website was “wrong in its facts” but didn’t elaborate which facts specifically.
“Today we see a prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who is making a fool out of himself.
“Malcolm Turnbull stood up in front of the nation and admitted that he bought a website in my name for the purpose of smearing me, of spreading lies,” she said.
“Malcolm Turnbull’s website is wrong in its facts and he’s just wrong for the country. The reality is Malcolm Turnbull has been prime minister for two years and all he can offer the people of Bennelong ... is nothing more than smears, attacks and lies.
“I said yesterday I thought this was going to get nasty off the back of the poll results and boy did Malcolm Turnbull come out and prove me right.”
When asked about her connections to Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald being raised on the website, Ms Keneally said: “I stopped them, I testified against them and ICAC praised my evidence.”
Meanwhile, Mr Shorten accused Mr Turnbull of being “up himself” when quizzed on what the election result could mean for the Coalition.
“Just how up himself is he, Turnbull? He seems to think the only person whose allowed to be prime minister is a person called Malcolm Turnbull,” he said.
“Like, it’s not about him and it’s not about me, it’s about the people of Bennelong and the people of Australia.”
Mr Shorten said he expected Sam Dastyari would resign in a timely manner but wasn’t able to specify a date.
“What I expect Senator Dastyari will do is that sooner rather than later, he will wrap up these matters but let’s be clear — there’s electoral work, you can’t just leave punters in the lurch,” he said.
“He’s resigning, he won’t be back in parliament.”
Earlier, Mr Turnbull said Ms Keneally has to start owning her political history after the Liberals launched a smear campaign targeting the star Labor candidate.
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Speaking at a press conference at Raytheon’s Macquarie Park facility, where he announced the creation of 50 new jobs in Bennelong, Mr Turnbull hit back at accusations the new advertising campaign was unfair.
He said Ms Keneally couldn’t object to facts about her record as NSW premier being raised, like highlighting that former Labor powerbroker Obeid and minister Macdonald were both in jail.
“Apparently Labor objects to us referring to that fact — well it is a fact, it’s a historical fact,” he said.
“Kristina Keneally failed the people of New South Wales and she cannot object to the facts of her record being raised.
“She has to live with her history, her political history. And we cannot let her do to Bennelong what she did to New South Wales.”
The Turnbull Government has kept its most lethal attack against the former NSW premier for the final week of the Bennelong by-election campaign, with the party today launching a website and running newspaper ads with the message: “Don’t let Labor do it to you again”, with images of Obeid, corrupt powerbroker Joe Tripodi and Ms Keneally.
The website roars: “Kristina Keneally? Not again!” and “scandal and chaos”.
“Kristina Keneally led one of the most chaotic, scandalous and incompetent governments in Australia’s history. Her record speaks for itself,” it says.
It goes on to detail Ms Keneally’s record as premier, from debt and deficit levels to cancelled investment in infrastructure and transport.
Polling has shown how tight the race is, with Ms Keneally and Mr Alexander neck-and-neck on a 50-50 two-party preferred basis.
They are also neck-and- neck on primary basis, according to a Newspoll conducted last weekend, which revealed Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservative Party splintering the conservative vote.
Campaigning yesterday, Ms Keneally anticipated the Liberal team would turn “nasty” and said it was already a “tough campaign”.
“It’s going to be a tough battle and what I’m expecting, given the poll results today, is that Malcolm Turnbull and his Liberal mates are going to get even nastier in the coming days ahead,” she said.
“I mean, Malcolm Turnbull has managed to accuse me of everything short of saying it wasn’t the dingo, it was Keneally. So I expect that is where he’s going to go over the next few days but that’s not going to deter me.”
Ms Keneally also yesterday fended off suggestions that she was set to replace Sam Dastyari in the Senate if she lost the Bennelong by-election.
“The question is now, is Kristina Keneally being lined up for the vacancy in the Senate,” she said. “This is all being stage-managed by Labor so that it’s a backstop for Kristina Keneally should she not win here.”
Mr Shorten wouldn’t be drawn on whether he would parachute Ms Keneally into Mr Dastyari’s seat if she lost the Bennelong by-election.
“Ye of little faith. I think we’re highly competitive in this by-election ... we’re focused on winning on Saturday,” he said.
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