Election 2022: Doctor Gordon Reid takes fight to incumbent in Robertson
The bellwether seat of Robertson on the NSW Central Coast has been won by the party that formed government at every election since 1983.
The bellwether seat of Robertson on the NSW central coast has been won by the party that formed government at every election since 1983.
There’s a lot riding politically on the battle for the electorate, currently held by incumbent Liberal MP Lucy Wicks on a margin of 4.2 per cent.
The former Telstra publicist and teacher is facing off against local doctor and political rookie Gordon Reid, who is running for Labor. The 29-year-old Wiradjuri medico decided to run after being confronted with crumbling health and social support systems at some point between the Delta and Omicron waves.
Dr Reid said the emergency department was flooded with people in dire need of public housing, mental health, domestic violence support or just in need of a general practitioner.
“As a doctor I can help one person at the bed or even a family,” he told The Australian.
“But doing this job, if I’m successful, I’ll be able to help thousands if not millions.”
Shortages of general practitioners and vaccines against Covid-19 are key issues in the electorate. The pandemic brought an influx of treechangers and soaring housing costs. The proposed PEP 11 offshore gas drilling permit, which the PM has flagged he will kill, has attracted strong community opposition.
Dr Reid grew up on the central coast and lives in Holgate near Terrigal, split between the electorates of Dobell and Robertson. He describes his political views as socially progressive and fiscally responsible.
On West St in Umina, Abby Clarke, 31, said she would vote Labor this election. She said the issues that mattered most to her were the Solomon Islands pivot towards China and the rising cost of living. “If the cost of living continues to go up, our wages need to go up,” Ms Clarke said.
“It’s harder to have a comfortable lifestyle, it’s harder to save money to buy our first home.”
Stuart Lenard has lived on the Central Coast since 1965. He said the plight of Indigenous Australians deserved more public attention and political action than currently received. “My nieces and nephews are all Aboriginal and they’re having a harder time than we think they are,” he said.
Ms Wicks has held the seat of Robertson since 2013, winning it from the ALP’s Deborah O’Neill, now a senator.
She accompanied Scott Morrison at the Jasmine Greens Park Kiosk in Umina Beach on Wednesday to unveil the Coalition’s “Central Coast Plan”. This included $137,000 to upgrade the Umina Beach Country Women’s Association Hall to be used as a natural disaster refuge centre and $1.4m to establish a Regional Youth Support Services hub.
The RYSS funding will aim to save more than 500 at-risk youth from entering the criminal justice system, reduce anti-social behaviour and build independence.
Encircled by flashing cameras, the PM and Ms Wicks shook hands with CWA and RYSS representatives beneath paper parasols hanging from the ceiling. An Indigenous teenager watching the media circus from the restaurant’s edge muttered, “Tell the truth.”
At a pre-poll centre in Woy Woy, Ms Wicks listed among her achievements in office the Northconnex motorway and the opening of the Central Coast Clinical School and Research Institute in Gosford. She said she was feeling positive about the election and said Robertson was always a fight.
“It’s always been a tough contest here, it’s always been a marginal seat,” she said.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity a seat like this gives me to really have my ear to the ground.”
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