Labor’s $105m bid to win ultra-marginal seat

Labor is pulling out all stops to push for victory in the ultra marginal Victorian seat of Corangamite.

Bill Shorten with Labor candidate for Corangamite Libby Coker and member for Corio Richard Marles yesterday. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

Bill Shorten has unleashed a $105 million cash splash in Corangamite as vulnerable Liberal MP Sarah Henderson continues her fight to hold on to the ultra-marginal Victorian seat.

The coastal Victorian electorate is now notionally held by Labor on 0.03 per cent, and has long been considered an easy Labor gain.

But Ms Henderson has fought a strong campaign and Coalition strategists hope to retain it.

As he campaigned at Deakin University and a local carbon-fibre wheel manufacturing plant, Mr Shorten issued fresh local funding commitments for three hospitals in the electorate. But his press conference was again dragged down by his refusal to release costings on his climate polices.

“Let’s be upfront. The cost to taxpayers is more expensive under the government,” he said. “They are paying big polluters not to pollute. Most other people recognise there is a cost to the environment on inaction.”

Mr Shorten has been plagued with questions about his climate costings ever since the election was called and has repeatedly claimed it cannot be costed as he is not imposing a carbon price.

But he backtracked from labelling questions on the price of his climate policy “dumb”, as he did on Q&A on Monday night.

“But the idea you can have a debate about the cost of taking action on climate change without taking into account the cost of inaction — it’s only looking at half the problem,” he said during a visit to Deakin University yesterday.

The Labor leader was lucky to avoid more tough questions on the environment, leaving that to Senate leader Penny Wong.

Senator Wong was chatting with students at Deakin University when first-year medical student Catrina Sturmberg started quizzing her on Labor’s support for gas exploration. Senator Wong tried to argue a vote for Labor was a vote for climate action.

Ms Sturmberg was not impressed: “She just refused to talk about it. You don’t expect much more from a politician, right?”