You both lose my vote, says hurt Ray Drury

The pensioner who buttonholed Scott Morrison at a Lake Macquarie pub says he is a lifelong Labor voter who – for the first time ever – will not be voting for the ALP.

Former miner Ray Drury in his Newcastle home on Friday. Picture: Liam Mendes

The pensioner who buttonholed Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a Lake Macquarie pub says he is a lifelong Labor voter who – for the first time ever – will not be voting for Labor at the upcoming federal election.

Former miner Ray Drury, who confronted Mr Morrison on Wednesday evening in front of a large media contingent, told The Australian he “would have done the same” to Anthony Albanese.

The 73-year-old, who has contracted asbestosis and two benign tumours after working in the mines for 30 years, now receives a pension and a weekly compensation through the Dust Disease Board, leaving him with about $700 for the week.

“I will vote for independents,” he said. “Scott Morrison, I wouldn’t vote for him, because I didn’t respect him, because if you want to respect someone, they’ve got to respect you back.

“And the same with the Labor Party, I’ve had three ministers … that I’ve wrote to and rang up; they just ignore you mate.”

Mr Drury said he wanted to vote for an independent candidate to “keep the bastards honest”. “I’m voting for an independent, I don’t care who it is,” he said.

Sadly, there are no independents running in his electorate of Newcastle. When told by The Australian, he said: “It doesn’t matter mate, I definitely will not be voting Labor or Liberal – they’re both liars.

“I want people like Zali Stegall and Helen Haines that have meetings with their community every week, and ask them if they’ve got a problem, not someone you see whenever an election is on.”

Mr Drury said Wednesday night’s confrontation with Mr Morrison was a culmination of 12 years of fighting for what he believes he is rightfully entitled to.

“I get $200 from the dust disease board, Centrelink then instead take that $200 out of my pension, so instead of getting a full pension, I’m getting a part pension,” he said. “They’re treating it as an income.

“I’m an asbestos victim, and I can’t earn $100 a week.”

Mr Drury said he was no dole bludger, after spending 30 years in the mines.

“I’m being discriminated against because I’ve got a disease; I didn’t want asbestos (and) tumours,” he said. “It makes me feel like I’ve worked all my life, paid me taxes, and now I’m getting double taxed.”