Labor Leader Bill Shorten makes sports funding vow as battle for Braddon hots up

UPDATED: FEDERAL Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is in campaign mode in Tasmania while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull takes his drought “listening tour” to outback Queensland.

UPDATED: FEDERAL Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is in campaign mode in Tasmania while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull takes his drought “listening tour” to outback Queensland.

Mr Shorten visited Burnie with Braddon candidate Justine Keay this morning morning, sharpening his pitch with a $350,000 promise to upgrade a local football oval under a future Labor government.

“I think when [voters] add up the cost-of-living pressures, the pressures on the healthcare system, the pressures on the schools, they’ll realise that the Labor Party is the brand they actually want,” Mr Shorten told reporters.

“A vote for Justine is a vote to reverse the cuts to the North Western Regional Hospital.

“A vote for Justine is to make sure that schools get properly funded.

“A vote for Justine is to make sure pensioners get that extra $14 a fortnight to help with their energy bills.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten during a funding announcement for West Park at Burnie this morning. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

Mr Shorten’s visit comes hot on the heels of former prime minister Tony Abbott, who has been out spruiking Liberal candidate Brett Whiteley. Braddon is one-of-five seats up for grabs across the country on July 28.

A Sky News-ReachTel poll released on Sunday shows Labor will struggle to reclaim the Tasmanian seat, with the coalition leading by a margin of 54-to-46 per cent.

Another by-election in the Queensland seat of Longman will also be hard-fought, with the coalition leading Labor by 52-to-48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

One Nation preferences could be a crucial factor in the Brisbane-based seat, but leader Pauline Hanson is in the UK on a parliamentary trip, while her party is imploding.

The by-elections will be held alongside those in Mayo in South Australia and Fremantle in Western Australia, which were also caused by dual-citizenship problems for sitting MPs.

A fifth by-election in Perth was caused after Labor’s Tim Hammond resigned for family reasons.

Mr Turnbull is focusing his attention on drought-stricken towns rather than the contests, joining senior National Party colleagues meeting community members in Blackall, who have endured a seven-year dry.

EARLIER: FEDERAL Labor Leader Bill Shorten has pledged $350,000 to Burnie’s West Park sports facility as the Braddon by-election hots up.

Mr Shorten held a Town Hall style meeting in Burnie last night, answering questions from some of the 120-strong crowd.

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The meeting comes after ReachTel poll found Labor’s Justine Keay trailing Liberal opponent Brett Whiteley 46 to 54 per cent in two-party preferred terms in the battle for Braddon.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has also visited the island state to spruik Liberal candidate Brett Whiteley ahead of next month’s by-election.

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Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Burnie Dockers president Stephen Dowling and Braddon by-election candidate Justine Keay at a funding announcement for West Park in Burnie earlier today. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

Braddon is one of five seats up for grabs across the country on July 28.

Pundits have speculated that a loss of a seat on Super Saturday would put pressure on Mr Shorten’s leadership.

Meanwhile, Labor has surged further ahead of the Turnbull Government in the latest Guardian Essential poll following a messy week in Canberra and the revival of the Barnaby Joyce controversy.

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The poll shows Labor ahead of the Coalition 54 per cent to 46 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, reversing a tightening of the contest following the federal budget.

The poll of 1025 respondents was not all bad news for the Coalition, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recording his best net approval rating since June 2016 while Mr Shorten went backwards.