Gillard hits out as fundraiser canned

JULIA Gillard has accused the Barnett government of stifling free speech by quashing a fundraising event for a federal Labor MP.

JULIA Gillard has accused the Barnett government of stifling free speech by quashing a school hall fundraising event for the federal Labor member for Fremantle, Melissa Parke.

A commercial contract had been in place between Ms Parke's campaign organisers and the Curtin Theatre in Fremantle for the hire of the venue scheduled for tomorrow night.

But the John Curtin College of the Arts pulled out of the deal yesterday after holding discussions with the state Education Department amid concerns over whether it was appropriate for the theatre to be used for a political event.

The Prime Minister, who begins a brief campaign visit to the state today, had been scheduled to speak with author and comedian Ben Elton at the venue, with tickets selling for $125.

A spokesman for Ms Gillard accused the Barnett government of pressuring the school into the decision in an act of "outrageous political censorship".

Ms Parke's office also said it was a political decision, but that the event would now be held at Fremantle's Victoria Hall.

"We are bewildered but we are defiant," a spokesman for the MP said. "We will not allow a naked political decision to stop a legitimate political event."

West Australian Education Minister Peter Collier said the government had become aware the event was a political fundraiser only yesterday.

"The decision was made that the event could not take place at a public high school," he said. "It's a sad day for West Australian education when we start using our public education system, our public schools, for political purposes."

Mr Collier said the school also did not know the event was a political fundraiser and stressed the directive not to proceed with the event came from the Education Department. "There was absolutely no political interference."

Ms Gillard is due to meet Premier Colin Barnett today to pressure him to sign up to her government's disability and education reforms.

It will be part of a two-day swing through Defence Minister Stephen Smith's seat of Perth, Ms Parke's seat of Fremantle and Resources Minister Gary Gray's seat of Brand. She will attend events to promote DisabilityCare and the Gonski education deal. The Barnett government has refused to sign up to either of them so far.

Brand, with a margin of 3.33 per cent, is the most vulnerable of Labor's seats. Mr Smith holds Perth on a margin of 5.88 per cent, compared to 5.7 per cent for Ms Parke in Fremantle. But Perth is regarded as more likely to fall than Fremantle because Labor lost the equivalent seat at the state election in March, while it held on to Fremantle. If the same pattern is repeated at the September 14 election it will be the first time since the 1975 and 1977 elections that Labor has held only one seat in Western Australia.