Sussan Ley says Albury will not be forgotten while she’s Liberal leader. Photo: Sussan Ley Facebook.
Newly elected Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says she remains “100 per cent dedicated” to Farrer and her electorate will benefit from her position.
Speaking at a press conference in Albury yesterday (15 May), Ms Ley responded to claims that she wouldn’t have time to focus on her own patch while in a role that requires extensive travel across Australia.
“I have been working incredibly hard over the last three years as deputy leader,” she said.
“But I do balance that with my presence here in my electorate, and for 30 of the 52 weeks of the year I am here.
“And as we go forward, I have very much in my mind that Anthony Albanese has neglected rural and regional Australia every single day that he has been Prime Minister.
“There’s no better place for me to remind him of that than sitting at the front table in Parliament House, directly opposite him in the major policy debates that we will have.”
The 63-year-old suffered a 10 per cent swing against her at the recent election, but held her seat against a strong challenge from independent Michelle Milthorpe.
Ms Ley has been the Member for Farrer since 2001, winning the seat eight times – but this was her closest election result. While she comfortably won Griffith, Leeton, Narrandera and most small towns across the electorate, she came second in some Albury booths.
“Look, I accept that there was a swing against me. And in politics, the votes come, and the votes go in terms of the swings, but I did have double, more than double, the primary vote of the nearest person to me in this election,” she said.
“What it comes down to is, I don’t take my community for granted. I work hard, and I will continue to work hard for every single vote.”
She also sought to clarify her position on the Albury hospital redevelopment, which has also come under criticism.
“I want to make a few things clear, because remarks that I have made about the hospital have not always been presented clearly. I have never said that I am against a greenfield site, but what I have reflected is the reality, and that is that two state governments have never wanted or asked for, or implemented anything that looks to be a greenfield site,” she said.
“So two state governments are not progressing a greenfield site. $558 million has been allocated to the current upgrade. I don’t want to see that $558 million taken away. Of course I don’t. If at some time in the future, two state governments come together and decide that they do want a greenfield site, and they do come to the federal government with a request for support, then that is something that I would clearly represent my community on.”
Sussan Ley is the first Liberal leader from a regional town since Malcolm Fraser in 1983 and the first from rural NSW in the party’s history.
