Federal election 2016: Labor faces Bendigo scare
LABOR is facing a last-minute scare in its marginal seat of Bendigo, as the Country Fire Authority dispute bites hard.
Federal Election
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LABOR is facing a last-minute scare in its marginal seat of Bendigo, as the Country Fire Authority dispute bites hard.
Sources from both the Labor and Liberal parties have told the Herald Sun the seat is now in play, and they cannot predict the outcome.
The Labor incumbent, Lisa Chesters, holds the seat by just 1.3 per cent. She was outpolled at the last election by the Liberals and needed Greens preferences to claim victory.
Sources on both sides of politics said the result was too close to predict because of the high number of CFA volunteers in the regional electorate.
But senior figures from both parties have been bombarding the seat as the campaign entered its final days.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull phoned in to local ABC radio this week.
And a raft of Labor frontbenchers have visited, including Jim Chalmers, Kim Carr, David Feeney, Jason Clare and Mark Butler. Senator Sam Dastyari visited in Bill Shorten’s campaign bus.
Ms Chesters denied the CFA dispute had had any impact on her campaign.
“The CFA is not an issue. Voters in central Victoria are really smart — they know it’s a state issue,’’ she said.
“They are over this issue being politicised.
“The relationship between career firefighters and volunteers in the region is strong.”
She said that locally the “vibe is good”, and she hoped to increase her margin.
But Liberal candidate Megan Purcell disagreed that the CFA was not an issue.
“People are stopping me in the street to talk about it. I think people are angry and upset about how it’s been handled,” Ms Purcell said.
“There is a sense that Labor take this seat for granted. People don’t like that.”
Ministers Mitch Fifield, Julie Bishop, Dan Tehan, Darren Chester and Sussan Ley have all visited the seat, as the Liberals seek to snatch a seat held by Labor since 1998.
But Ms Purcell said she still believed she was the underdog in the race.
Originally published as Federal election 2016: Labor faces Bendigo scare
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