Federal election 2025: Leaders target Western Sydney on day 7
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton were both in Western Sydney on Friday, pitching to the voters who could turn the May 3 election.
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Anthony Albanese says Western Sydney represents “opportunity”. Peter Dutton says it is a “powerhouse”.
And at the May 3 election, the 14 seats of the region, where 10 per cent of the Australian population lives, will play a major role in deciding who the next Prime Minister is, and the leaders know it.
The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader spent day seven of the election in the area, primarily to address The Daily Telegraph’s Future Western Sydney summit.
Mr Dutton kicked off his day spruiking his announcement that a Coalition government would cut the fuel excise for a year, saving motorists 25 cents a litre – or an average of $750 a year per vehicle – at a service station suburban Carlingford.
The photo opp was in the seat of Parramatta, which is held by Labor’s Andrew Charlton, a former economics adviser to ex-PM Kevin Rudd.
Meanwhile, Mr Albanese received a rock star reception from the students of Cabramatta Public School in the marginal seat of Fowler, held by independent Dai Le on a 1.1 per cent margin.
His education minister Jason Clare attended the school several decades ago and caught up with his old teacher Cathy Fry, who after 40 years is still teaching.
“Mrs Fry is still at Cabramatta public school, still teaching Western Sydney kids at Cabramatta Public school – an amazing multicultural school,” Mr Albanese told the forum.
“We had an incredible welcome there with Tu Le.”
Tu Le will finally contest the once baked-on Labor seat, which the party lost to independent candidate Dai Le in 2022 when then-senator and former NSW premier Kristina Keneally was parachuted into the seat.
In a moment of candour, Mr Albanese later told reporters installing Ms Keneally in the seat in place of Tu Le at the last election had been a “mistake”, saying “it wasn’t my decision”.
“I thought it was an error at the time,” Mr Albanese said.
He touted Tu Le as a future Labor cabinet minister, while later noting to the forum that Western Sydney currently has five cabinet ministers – Tony Burke, Jason Clare, Chris Bowen, Michelle Rowland and Ed Husic.
He said they were strong advocates for Western Sydney, while espousing the virtues of the region.
He also announced specific funding for an upgrade Windsor Road and $120m in funding for maternity services at Rouse Hill Hospital.
Mr Albanese praised the growth of Western Sydney.
“In my lifetime, this part of NSW has grown and changed almost beyond recognition. But its values have endured – as powerful and vital as ever,” he said.
“Hard work. Ambition. The fair go. And aspiration.”
The Opposition Leader also paid homage to the “cultural melting pot” of Western Sydney, saying the area symbolised “what all Australians want”.
“Such diversity is why Western Sydney is often described as a patchwork, and yet, by focusing too much on the patchwork that is Western Sydney, we lose sight of something that is more important,” he said in his address to the forum.
“We lose sight of the attributes of the people of Western Sydney have in common despite their differences. Indeed, the residents of Western Sydney want what all Australians want.”
Mr Dutton said this included more GP appointments, reduced crime and affordable housing.
It isn’t Mr Dutton’s first visit to Western Sydney this election campaign.
On the first weekend of the official election campaign, he visited three electorates in Sydney’s west and southwest, where many households have been hit particularly hard by the cost-of-living crisis.
Labor holds 10 of the 14 federal electorates in Western Sydney. The Liberal Party has just three – Banks, Lindsay and Mitchell, but is eyeing off several others believing the cost of living crunch has made Labor vulnerable.
Watching the presser from a side street, lifelong Carlingford resident Desley Lamond, 64, said she was “hoping and praying” for a change of government.
“Basically what’s happened in the last three years, everything has gone up, and Labor is just spend, spend spend,” she told NewsWire.
“They don’t really seem to care about everyday Australians.”
While Ms Lamond also voted for the Liberals in the 2022 federal election, she’s an example of the Australian voter who’s looking to punish Labor, rightly or wrongly, for the past three years of high inflation, and rising interest rates.
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