By TANIA PHILLIPS
THE election campaign came to the Tweed in full force this week with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd bowling in and leaving a damage bill at a local bowling club, caused by the media entourage, which the local MP promised to fix up.
Mr Rudd, who claims Tweed ancestry, was in the region to announce the government’s “Active Ageing” program at Condong Bowling Club on Tuesday afternoon.
The $20 million in Active Ageing projects are aimed at allowing thousands more older Australians to take part in activities to improve their well-being.
Grants will be available to community organisations and local governments for projects fostering healthy ageing.
Scheduled to arrive at 3.30pm at the club, Mr Rudd was late after a stop in Murwillumbah for lunch and a haircut – surprising locals including football-mad barber Steve Manning who found himself cutting the Prime Minister’s hair while being photographed by the PM’s wife Therese Rein.
A press bus carrying the press corps arrived just ahead of the Prime Minister, swarming over the club, with many having to be asked to remove their shoes before stepping onto the bowling green for a staged shot of the PM bowling. After pretending to use the bowl as a shotput, Mr Rudd managed to send down a couple of bowls, even avoiding the swarm of photographers taking his photo.
A staffer for Member for Richmond Justine Elliot, who accompanied Mr Rudd on the visit, said the local member had offered to pay for any damage the media might have caused to the club’s greens.
Mr Rudd then moved into the club for a beer and a chance to press the flesh with locals before holding a press conference on the side of the green.
“This is God’s own country, it reminds me so much of where I grew up in Queensland,” he told the huge press contingent.
“I’ve said to a few people my maternal forebears all came from this region – in fact just up the road in Tumbulgum. They moved from there about 100 years ago into South East Queensland. So my mother always said in the family history we’re from the Tweed, you know. So it’s good to be back.”
