Brett Whiteley bows out as Federal member for Braddon with no hard feelings

OUSTED Braddon MP Brett Whiteley has bowed out of parliament without throwing barbs or laying the blame for his loss at the feet of others.

Outgoing Braddon MP Brett Whiteley after his election loss. Picture; CHRIS KIDD

OUSTED Braddon MP Brett Whiteley has bowed out of parliament without throwing barbs or laying the blame for his loss at the feet of others.

Unlike his counterpart And­rew Nikolic, who has blamed the GetUp! campaign for his loss and senior Tasmanian Liberal Eric Abetz, who has rejected any criticism on his part in the loss of three Liberal seats in the state’s north, Mr Whiteley has thanked his electorate and left quietly.

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On election night, Mr Whiteley acknowledged that Labor’s campaign to save Medicare appealed to the high number of people in his electorate receiving disability benefits and New­start allowance.

Yesterday, he thanked the people of Braddon for the honour of being their federal member for nearly three years.

But he added: “The Abbott and Turnbull governments have delivered important economic reforms that have started to deliver results.”

He pointed to the $203 million given to boost to the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme, new free trade agreements, $60 million for irrigation and significant progress towards a second Bass Strait interconnector.

Read more on the Federal Election in today’s Mercury.