Senator Nita Green calls out Opposition Leader Peter Dutton for ‘ignoring’ Far North Queensland
A Labor senator has accused Peter Dutton of ‘ignoring’ the region, calling out the Opposition Leader for not setting foot in the Far North for more than 85 days.
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A Labor senator has accused Peter Dutton of ‘ignoring’ the region, calling out the Opposition Leader for not setting foot in the Far North for more than 85 days.
But the Liberal candidate for Leichhardt has hit back, calling Labor visits a “media sugar hit”.
Since the beginning of the year, 15 different Labor ministers have visited Leichhardt on 17 occasions.
Mr Dutton and a number of LNP candidates have visited the seat 13 times since January 1.
Senator Nita Green said accused the Opposition Leader of neglecting the north, saying “halfway through the election campaign, Peter Dutton is actively choosing to ignore the seat of Leichhardt and the people of Far North Queensland.”
It has been more than 85 days since Mr Dutton visited the Far North to formally announce Jeremy Neal as the Liberal candidate for Leichhardt.
He has visited Melbourne four times during the campaign so far with the LNP targeting a number of seats in the southern state.
“Either he is taking our region for granted or he just doesn’t care about us,” Senator Green said.
“Frankly, it could be both.
“While Peter Dutton, who wants to move from Queensland to live on Sydney Harbour, spends more time down south than up here, we know our Prime Minister not only loves coming to the Far North, but also invests in our region.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited the Far North on three occasions since Matt Smith was announced as the candidate for Labor.
In response to the criticism, Mr Neal labelled Labor visits a “media sugar hit”.
“Our priority is listening to the people of Far North Queensland, not talking at them on the eve of an election,” he said.
“Labor failed to listen and act as the youth crime crisis worsened.
“Labor wasted 18 months talking about the Voice, while interest rates rose 12 times.
“Labor promised power prices would drop $275, instead they’ve gone up nearly $1300 since the last election.
“It’s pretty rich that Labor think on the eve of an election they can come up here and make announcement after announcement for the sake of a media sugar hit after years of leaving our region behind, and I think the people of Far North Queensland will see through this.”
“I will focus on the issues facing the Leichhardt electorate.”
“Labor seems to have discovered the existence of Leichardt in the past three months, while we have been delivering for the community for many years,” an LNP spokesman said.
“Mr Albanese is great at showing up for photo opp, and leaves when work needs to be done. Peter Dutton looks forward to coming back to the electorate before election day.”
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