Federal election Gold Coast: LNP say Labor ‘have no commitment to the city’

Despite polling showing that Labor could win government, LNP members on the Coast are not giving up without a fight, saying the Labor has no commitment to the city.

POLLING shows Federal MPs on the Gold Coast could end up hamstrung in opposition under a newly elected Labor government.

But LNP politicians refuse to believe the writing’s already on the wall ahead of the May 18 Federal election.

McPherson MP Karen Andrews joined Fadden MP Stuart Robert and the LNP’s candidate for Moncrieff Angie Bell at Burleigh Heads on Friday.

Liberal National Party politicians Member for McPherson Karen Andrews with candidate for Moncrieff Angie Bell and Member for Fadden Stuart Robert.

Ms Andrews said polling results may not be reflected when voters hit the booths.

“Whilst the general view may be that people think Labor may win, that’s not necessarily going to translate to them voting for Labor at the polling booth. That’s actually quite different,” Ms Andrews said.

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“Secondly, we will be elected as representatives of the Gold Coast and we will fight every single day for the best deal for the Gold Coast.

“That will be much harder if we have to fight with a Labor government because we know they have no commitment to the Gold Coast. We aren’t the Jonny-come-latelys to the Gold Coast, Labor are.”

Labor Senator Murray Watt at a Senate estimates hearing at Parliament House in Canberra. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Mr Robert was adamant “we’re not here to go into opposition, we’re here to win”.

“And that’s the message from the Gold Coast team. We’re here to fight every day to win and that’s what we’re going to do.”

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The seats of Fadden, Forde, McPherson, Moncrieff and Wright, which cover parts of the city, are held by the LNP.

The seats are mostly considered safe, but Labor will be targeting Forde, held by MP Bert van Manen with a slim margin of 0.6 per cent.

The Labor contender for Ms Andrews’ seat, lawyer Aaron Santelises, believes the election will be a hotly contested race at a regional and national level.

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“I believe it will be a tight election, we have had many conversations with voters in the electorate and they are sick and tired of the cuts and chaos of Karen Andrews MP and the LNP,” he said.

“The electorate wants to see a party that puts the community first, and not banks.”

Mr Santelises said residents were “concerned about our health services, the cost of living and funding our state schools”.

“Only Labor and I will tackle these issues head on and ensure that we have a local member that is in touch with the community,” he said.

Gold Coast Senator Murray Watt jetted back to Forde on Thursday after the election was announced and “Senate estimates were abandoned”.

He said the electorates in the city could prove “critical” nationally.

“We’ve got good candidates. Local people who have been working hard for months and we’re ready to roll,” he said.

Mr Watt said Labor would “spread our message about why we need more balance between the parties on the Gold Coast”.