John Howard, Mike Baird back Tony Abbott as race tightens for Warringah
Giants of the Liberal Party have come out in support of Tony Abbott, with former prime minister John Howard sending a letter to voters advocating for the Warringah MP.
- New data reveals what matters most to Warringah voters
- What voters thought of the Tony Abbott v Zali Steggall debate
Giants of the Liberal Party have come out in support of Tony Abbott, with former prime minister John Howard sending a letter to voters, and posing in a video advocating for the Warringah MP.
Meanwhile, former premier Mike Baird has told the Manly Daily Mr Abbott’s contribution to making the Beaches Link tunnel a reality could not be understated.
Mr Baird, who was on the election trail with Mr Abbott during an announcement of $5 million towards a young adult hospice, said the Warringah MP’s time as the “infrastructure Prime Minister” led to fast-tracking of the tunnel.
Warringah residents started receiving letters from Mr Howard last week.
In his letter he states Mr Abbott will “fight tooth and nail” for Warringah, adding “Tony Abbott is the person you should support”.
“Tony Abbott has been a friend of mine for 30 years,” he says in the letter.
“He was a great health minister in my government, always arguing for the strengthening of Medicare and the protection of private health insurance.
“He led the Liberal Party back into Government in 2013. Indeed, he’s one of only four Liberal leaders to have done that since the Party was formed in 1944.”
The party has also published a video of Mr Howard reading the letter.
Mr Abbott has previously admitted he is in the fight of his political life to retain his seat against Independent Zali Steggall, who has tapped into a strong thirst for climate change action in the electorate.
Mr Baird contacted the Manly Daily to throw his support behind Mr Abbott.
“On a personal level I have worked with a lot of people, and his humility is what has always struck me,” Mr Baird said. “That is reflected locally in terms of his volunteering which is well-documented, but it is genuine, it is real and it is a part of who he is and that has always been something I have respected.
“When he was PM he played a big part in wanting to invest in infrastructure, not just in NSW but across the nation and in the discussions we had, that obviously gave us much more capacity to do infrastructure projects across NSW than it would have otherwise.
“That included the capacity to build and fund the tunnel, which is now in place and under way.”
Mr Baird said federal funding for projects like WestConnex and the second Sydney Airport meant the tunnel could be fast-tracked.
“Tony stepped up in the federal sphere, he stepped up with billions of dollars around Western Sydney airport. Those were billions the state didn’t need to provide, which gave us the capacity to do more projects … the tunnel was one that was under consideration and it gave us capacity to bring the timing of that forward.”
Another senior Liberal at the height of her popularity was rolled out at the weekend to support Mr Abbott.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian appeared alongside Mr Abbott as he announced $5m of federal funding for the proposed adult hospice on the site of the former Manly Hospital.
It comes as bookmakers have slashed the odds on Zali Steggall taking the seat.
On Friday TAB had Mr Abbott at $1.35 and Ms Steggall at $2.70.
As of Monday, Mr Abbott was still favourite at $1.80 but Ms Steggall was listed at $1.90.
GetUp commissioned polling was also released over the weekend which indicated a fall in support for the former prime minister.
The polling, carried out by Lonergan Research, had Mr Abbott’s primary vote down to 38 per cent.
By comparison, in 2016 he won the seat with 51.6 per cent of the primary vote.
The polling suggests Zali Steggall is on course to win, leading Mr Abbott 56-44 on a two party-preferred basis.
Polling has also been conducted for the Manly Daily which shows the most pressing issue in Warringah is climate change.
The result is part of ‘The Perfect Candidate’ from the Australian Futures Project, which uses data collected in Roy Morgan surveys last year to identify key issues in each electorate.
Some 47 per cent of registered voters polled in Warringah identified global warming and climate change as the most important issue. Nationally the issue ranked fourth of the 18 included in the questionnaire.
HOLLOWED BOOK FILLED WITH POO LEFT ON ABBOTT’S DOORSTEP
By Jack Houghton
The grubby campaign against Tony Abbott has reached an all-time-low with activists leaving a hollowed-out book filled with faeces on the former Prime Minister’s office doorstep.
The blank cover book was scrawled with the words “unpopular” in white marker and was dumped outside Mr Abbott’s Manly office overnight.
NSW Police have attended My Abbott’s Manly office and collected the book and it’s contents which will form the foundation of a formal investigation.
A spokesman for Mr Abbott said the move showed activists had sunk even lower.
“They went from the gutter last week and they’ve gone to the sewer this week,” he said.
Staff within Mr Abbott’s campaign are upset by the tactic which is just the latest unsavoury assault on the Warringah MP since electorate was covered in expletive-ridden graffiti last week.
Mr Abbott has been the target of a Getup campaign to oust him from the northern beaches seat which turned ugly late last month when the group released an ad suggesting Mr Abbott would let a swimmer drown to debate climate science.
Getup was forced to remove the ad and apologise after it drew ire from the Royal Life Saving Society Australia for mocking drownings but the organisation said it would make another video without the drowning swimmer.
Getup has distanced itself from the poo attack on Tony Abbott saying it condemns the act “in the strongest possible terms”.
NSW Police are investigating who dumped the book filled with poo on Mr Abbott’s doorstep after his staff made a formal complaint.
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