Opposition Leader Bill Shorten ‘repelling’ Bennelong voters towards Liberal candidate John Alexander
INTERNAL Liberal Party research, obtained exclusively by The Daily Telegraph, reveals the extent to which Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s unpopularity is affecting his star candidate Kristina Keneally’s campaign against tennis legend John Alexander.
NSW
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BILL Shorten is turning voters off in the crucial Bennelong by-election, with his campaigning in the seat actually encouraging people to vote Liberal.
Internal Liberal Party research, obtained exclusively by The Daily Telegraph, reveals the extent to which the Opposition Leader’s unpopularity is affecting his star candidate Kristina Keneally’s campaign against tennis legend John Alexander.
The research, conducted last month, amazingly indicated Mr Shorten was “repelling voters towards the Liberals more than he is driving voters towards Labor”.
Mr Shorten has been in Bennelong eight times since by-election campaigning kicked off last month and featured prominently at Ms Keneally’s campaign launch on November 19.
A Labor spokeswoman said it was “highly likely” Mr Shorten would visit a school in the Bennelong electorate with the former NSW premier today.
Polling on the weekend showed the race is still incredibly tight.
“Despite Bill Shorten’s unpopularity, this is a very tight race. Voters in Bennelong should understand that a vote for Kristina Keneally is a vote for Bill Shorten,” a senior Liberal campaign source said.
“A Labor victory in Bennelong would put Bill Shorten perilously close to becoming Prime Minister, something which would have serious consequences for our country.”
But it’s not just Mr Shorten causing headaches for the Keneally campaign team.
A wall of at least 50 illegal signs promoting her were driven into the ground with stakes and fixed to an electricity pole at West Ryde yesterday. This is despite council laws stipulating the “affixing of political advertising posters to electricity poles, fences or any public land is not permitted”.
And in an awkward twist, the offending signs were authorised by City of Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale, who also happens to be Ms Keneally’s campaign manager.
Mr Laxale became the youngest mayor elected in Ryde’s history when he won the election in 2015 at the age of 31.
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When asked if his position as both mayor and Ms Keneally’s campaign manager represented a conflict of interest, Mr Laxale said: “I’ve been working on the campaign as a local party member under the guidance of NSW Labor General Secretary Kaila Murnain.”
It’s understood Ms Keneally’s camp knowingly flouted the rules for hours despite being informed the placement of the promotional materials wasn’t lawful.
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The wall was eventually dismantled late yesterday afternoon after inquiries by The Daily Telegraph.
A City of Ryde spokesman said the council was “concerned at the illegal placement of political posters and signage relating to the current Bennelong by-election by a number of political parties”.
“Council wishes to remind all candidates and their offices, that it is their responsibility to ensure that their volunteers adhere to policies as they apply to specific Local Government Areas during election campaigns and that candidates and volunteers may be liable for any incidents leading to injury caused by their activities,” he said.