A VISIT by the shadow treasurer overnight came as a major coup for the Labor candidate for Albury, who said he would be turning to the MP for a look into the world of federal politics.
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Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen flew in to Albury yesterday for the Annual Harold Mair OAM Dinner.
Mr Bowen said other than supporting Labor candidate Ross Jackson, who is also deputy mayor of Albury, paid parental leave and the scrapping of Medicare Local were matters on the agenda for our region.
“I’ll be talking about the Labor story, the importance of Albury in Australia and the importance of rural and regional Australia and how the Liberal and National parties haven’t given great representation to the people of rural and regional Australia,” Mr Bowen said.
“Looking at the Medicare Local which has been dismembered here, that is a great shame and a great pity, we would have a very different approach.
“We would also look at the paid parental leave, which is obviously a big slap in the face to many people in rural and regional Australia who work hard and have worked hard and have raised children.
“They would miss out on the very generous paid parental leave that the government is insisting on delivering for Australians.”
The dinner is held to recognise the contribution of the late Mr Mair, a former Labor member for Albury.
Cr Jackson said it was “beyond belief” to have a federal member come to Albury for the event in the lead up to his first attempt at state politics.
“We are basically just having a meet and greet and a fundraiser, we are looking to get Chris’ point of view and what he sees politics as,” Cr Jackson said.
“We are getting an insight into what the federal world is and he will give me a bit of guidance and suggestions as to what I should be doing.
“The man is a wealth of knowledge and he is a fantastic resource to me and is happy to help, what more could you want?
“I would like to talk about fast rail obviously, from the government’s point of view he is shadow treasurer, but also other issues we need to look at for Albury’s future, like education and what he thinks about how the current Liberal government is managing that.”
Liberal member Greg Aplin has held the seat of Albury since 2003.
“Anything Ross needs I will be doing what I can to help him,” Mr Bowen said.
Those at the dinner included Father Peter MacLeod-Miller, Father Kevin Flanagan, Albury mayor Kevin Mack, Albury councillor Darren Cameron, Victorian Labor candidate for Benambra Jennifer Podesta and Albury Greens candidate Niloufer King.
