LABOR’S Darren Cameron last night praised Liberal Greg Aplin while taking a swipe at the “evil” Greens in the wake of the NSW election.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The last-minute substitute for previously endorsed and former Albury councillor Nico Mathews was still involved in a tight contest with independent and councillor Paul Wareham for second in the seat of Albury.
Just 250 votes separated the pair at the end of the first count on Saturday night.
Both had polled a quarter of Liberal incumbent Greg Aplin’s vote in the Coalition’s landslide win.
But Mr Cameron said he had nothing but admiration for his chief opponent and the member for Albury Mr Aplin.
“Greg is a man of great honesty and great integrity,” he said.
“But he has a big task ahead of him.
“One of my fears is that in office the Liberals will turn their back on their promises like Jeff Kennett and John Howard, using the old excuse that they were unaware of the extent of the financial ‘black hole’ they had inherited.”
Mr Cameron said he had done better than expected, despite his primary vote being almost halved in Saturday’s poll.
At 9pm last night he trailed independent candidate Paul Wareham by three votes, after leading him by 250 votes when counting finished on Saturday night.
“I fully expected I would not be able to hold second with Paul Wareham in this contest,” he said.
“It was less than ideal circumstances for me — five weeks to campaign and after the Nico incident (previously endorsed Labor candidate Nico Mathews having to withdraw after being charged with drink-driving).
“A positive was that this electorate, like many others in the state, shunned the Greens — they are nothing short of evil.”
Mr Wareham said his vote had peaked at Springdale Heights at 23 per cent.
“In Albury, we had about 18 per cent of the booth and were better than Labor in 12 of the 14 booths in the city and immediate area.
“The fell away at Mulwala, Tumbarumba and even Corowa.”
Mr Cameron praised his die-hard supporters. “At times like this you find out who are the true supporters of the party,” he said.