By NIKKI TODD
LABOR MP Justine Elliot hit the ground running on Monday, calling on the Abbott Government to honour its election commitments to the Tweed and fund the upgrade of Kennedy Drive.
Ms Elliot will serve her fourth term in Richmond after she was returned relatively comfortably to the seat on Saturday, despite losing in the primary vote to Nationals candidate Matthew Fraser and halving her margin from seven to 2.9 per cent.
Ms Elliot was able to retain her seat on a two-party preferred basis with a strong flow of preferences from the Greens, whose stronghold in the south of the electorate at Byron Bay, Nimbin and Mullumbimby played a critical role in her re-election.
She will be a lone beacon for Labor in northern NSW after Janelle Saffin lost the neighbouring seat of Page to the Nationals, with the closest Labor seat now being Rankin at Logan in south-east Queensland or Newcastle in NSW.
Ms Elliot, who spent most of her time on Saturday handing out how-to-vote cards with her family at Banora Point, said she was honoured to continue to represent the area.
“It was a great result. Without a doubt there were a lot of issues, particularly environmental issues, that were important to the electorate as a whole,’’ Ms Elliot said.
“And it was not just on coal seam gas but also recognising the action we took on pricing carbon and on preserving the marine park.’’
Ms Elliot said she would do all she could to hold the Abbott Government to account, calling on the Coalition to honour its election promise and deliver $3.3 million to upgrade Kennedy Drive at Tweed Heads West.
The upgrade was a major election platform for Mr Fraser, who brought in Senator Fiona Nash and Nationals leader Warren Truss to support him on the issue during the campaign.
“I’m calling on both Fiona Nash and also Geoff Provest the local state National Party person to confirm the funding will be delivered,’’ Ms Elliot said.
“I’m doing that because we’ve had so many broken promises from the Nationals about Kennedy Drive and so, day one, that’s what I’m doing, holding them to account and fighting for locals – it is a big issue.’’
Ms Elliot said she would also continue to fight hard to stop coal seam gas mining in the area, as well as oppose any prospective cuts to jobs and services.
In a statement, Mr Provest said it was unfortunate Ms Elliot had “squeezed back in on Greens preferences’’ despite “residents of the Tweed electorate overwhelmingly rejecting the Labor Party’’.
He said he expected the new Coalition Federal Government to keep its promises in the Tweed despite the local outcome of the ballot.
HOW WE VOTED:
Primary Vote
1) John Ordish (Christian Democratic Party) 1.4%
2) Kevin Skinner (Independent) 2.2%
3) Matthew Fraser (Nationals) 37.76%
4) Justine Elliot (ALP) 33.6%
5) Dawn Walker (Greens) 17.53%
6) Phil Allen (Palmer United Party) 7.51%
Two candidate preferred
Matthew Fraser (Nationals) 47.10%
Justine Elliot (ALP) 52.9%
Margin 2.9%
(Source: AEC.gov.au. As of counting early Tuesday)
