Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chris Minns visit Nowra
In a whirlwind visit to the NSW south coast, Anthony Albanese and NSW Labor leader Chris Minns were grilled on housing affordability, road repairs and the Kiama challenge of Gareth Ward.
The South Coast News
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A whirlwind visit by Anthony Albanese to spruik road funding on the NSW south coast was taken over by a discussion about a state MP scandal and housing affordability.
The Prime Minister and NSW Labor leader Chris Minns announced a $40 million road repair package for Shoalhaven Council at Callala Bay on Friday.
However, it wasn’t long before Kiama MP Gareth Ward’s alleged sexual assault charges were mentioned, with Mr Minns asked if he was aware that “Labor had a lot of ground to make up in Kiama”.
“We’ve got a fantastic candidate (Kaitlin McInerney) and we’re putting up a plan to fix NSW,” Mr Minns said.
“We’re gonna leave it up to the voters and I’m not in the business of hypothecating what the result will be on the 25th of March.”
Despite the ongoing court matter, Mr Ward continues to poll ahead of the Labor candidate.
Mr Ward has denied all charges against him.
According to a Yougov poll, Mr Ward currently holds Kiama by a 12 per cent margin.
“Voters are going to have to choose very carefully who is representing them in Macquarie St,” Mr Minns said.
Mr Ward noted Mr Albanese and Mr Minns had bought a coffee in Kiama before arriving at Nowra.
“I would have liked to have seen an announcement, but I guess I’m just ambitious,” he said.
Mr Albanese was also asked what the federal government was doing to fix the housing affordability crisis stretching along the south coast.
“What we are doing on housing is multifaceted,” Mr Albanese said.
“We need to look at the supply of housing, we need to look at land release, we need to look at local planning laws, to look at how we approve affordable housing and its access.”
When asked why it had taken so long to deliver the $40 million road repair fund, which was promised by both parties before the 2021 federal election, Mr Albanese highlighted how Labor was delivering on its commitment.
However, Liberal candidate for the south coast Luke Sikora said the funding to fix roads needed to be given to council sooner.
“The $40 million commitment to fix local roads across the Shoalhaven was made 10 months ago,” he said.
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