Federal Election 2019: John Alexander defends record as Bennelong MP
John Alexander has defended his nine-year record as Bennelong MP after rolling out two “signature” local projects and playing a central role in developing a national plan of settlement.
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John Alexander has strongly defended his nine-year record as Bennelong MP after rolling out two “signature” local projects and playing a central role in developing a national plan of settlement.
The sitting Liberal MP, an odds-on favourite to retain the seat which has bled blue for most of the past 70 years, said his long-running campaign to promote small businesses and a table-tennis program in schools had made a “big difference”.
“The Bennelong Village Business campaign, which has been ongoing since late 2010, has been very effective,” Mr Alexander said. “It’s something where we go to villages and get small businesses’ details and do letter drops and organise advertising discounts for them.
“And the table-tennis program, which has been privately funded, has also made a big difference, where we’ve helped address issues around social isolation in schools.”
On a national level, the father of three adult children has played a leading role in establishing a “long-overdue” national plan of settlement.
He was the chair of a federal parliamentary committee which released the Building Up and Moving Out report late last year. It looks at strategic decentralisation and the role of fast rail in easing population and transport pressure points.
“Our plan for fast rail will have a greater capacity to develop regional centres where Newcastle would be 25 minutes from Sydney, and Gosford and the Southern Highlands just 15 minutes from Sydney,” Mr Alexander said.
“And so the uptake will be very rapid and the pressure release on the major cities will also be quick.
“If I get re-elected, I would keeping pushing this, because it also addresses housing affordability.”
In relation to the “big issues” of congestion and infrastructure planning, the 67-year-old said there had been “huge progress” under the Coalition Government, including a $100 billion commitment to rail projects as part of the national plan.
“It’s critical that we have a masterplan in place for infrastructure,” he said.
DEVELOPMENT HIT
Mr Alexander concedes that overdevelopment is a major concern for residents in his electorate, particularly in the suburbs of Epping and Macquarie Park.
“The experts have told us that high-rise around infrastructure should have been planned 50 years in advance,” he said. “And where we’ve gone wrong here is that all of this development is reactive.
“Train stations, when they were planned five decades ago, should have had high-rise within 400m of it, three-level townhouses within 500m of the station so everybody would know what the future of their suburb was well in advance.”
Asked whether he had made representations to Hornsby, Parramatta and Ryde councils, as well as the State Government, to protest against the rapid pace of development, he said: “Look, I haven’t made formal representations.
“But the constant dialogue I have, particularly with (Ryde State Liberal MP) Victor Dominello, about our developments in infrastructure, land use, planning and transport … is leading to a more commonsense approach.
“The development precincts (across Sydney) and the development of western Sydney around Badgerys Creek Airport — that has a strong value-capture component and the holistic planning of infrastructure.
“We’re moving in the right direction.”
PUNTERS’ PAL
Mr Alexander is an unbackable favourite to win the seat of Bennelong.
Bookmaker Sportsbet has him at $1.01, ahead of his main rival, high-profile ALP candidate Dr Brian Owler at $11.
Asked how he rated his chances of victory at the Federal Election on Saturday, Mr Alexander said: “If (former Prime Minister) John Howard can be beaten at Bennelong, then John Alexander can certainly be beaten.
“There’s kind of two polls here. Prepolling will tell you a lot of people have already made up their minds. And yet, we’re also getting told that more people will make up their minds in the last week of the campaign.
“(Prime Minister) Scott Morrison was given an impossible task (after taking over from Malcolm Turnbull), but he’s been excelling and has put us on a trajectory where it’s going to be a very close election.”
BENNELONG SEAT PROFILE
Candidates (in ballot paper order)
Brian Owler (Labor)
Andrew Marks (United Australia Party)
John Alexander (Liberals)
Qiu Yue Zhang (Greens)
Julie Worsley (Christian Democratic Party)
Betting: Coalition $1.12 ALP $5 Greens $67 (TAB); Coalition $1.01 ALP $11 Greens $21 (Sportsbet)
By the numbers
4.8: The percentage margin that Mr Alexander holds the seat
44: The section on citizenship in the Constitution which forced a 2017 by-election
60: The sq km of the electorate which includes the suburbs of Ermington, Melrose Park, Ryde, Macquarie Park, Marsfield and Epping
History
1949-1974: The years the seat was held by Liberal Sir John Cramer, a former Minister for the Army in the Menzies government
1974-2007: The period Liberal John Howard, Australia’s second-longest serving Prime Minister (1996-2007), was MP
2007-10: Labor’s Maxine McKew was a one-term MP
2010-current: Liberal John Alexander is the sitting MP
Fun fact: The seat was named after Woollarawarre Bennelong, an Aboriginal man who was befriended by Governor Arthur Phillip when Sydney was first settled.
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