With the Liberal-National Coalition’s majority under increasing uncertainty at a federal level, and the viability of Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership in doubt, the Australian Labor Party is wasting no time in preparing for the next election.
Locally, preselection is soon to be underway for the federal electorate of Macarthur, with incumbent Dr. Mike Freelander MP quick to declare his clear intentions to stand again.
“I welcome the fact that the party undertaking this process early on. It is important that we have a fantastic team standing alongside Bill Shorten, and that voters have enough time to truly get to know them”, said the Member for Macarthur.
Having been elected at the federal election last July, Dr. Freelander is proud of his record throughout his first 15 months in office, however believes there is still much to do.
“I feel like it was only just yesterday that I was elected. I’ll never forget that feeling, and how humbling it was to have the Macarthur community put their faith in me,” said Dr Freelander.
“Throughout the last year or so, it has become abundantly clear to me that local families are being hurt under the Turnbull Government. I see the evidence of this every day, whether at my community forums on the NBN or NDIS, at my mobile offices, or even when I’m meeting one-on-one with constituents who are having issues with their aged pensions or electricity bills.”
As a longstanding local paediatrician, Dr. Freelander confesses that he misses seeing his patients, but remains driven to secure better outcomes for local families.
“The Macarthur region is experiencing rapid growth, yet local residents are not being provided with the necessary infrastructure and services to suit this growing demand. We have Coalition governments at a State and Federal level that are very pro-development, yet appear to lack the vision to deliver for our region’s future needs,” said Dr Freelander.
“Many local mums and dads are made to commute hours every day to get to work, stuck in gridlock or on overcrowded public transport. The fact that they are made to forego valuable time they could otherwise be spending with their young families, due to a lack of adequate infrastructure, is something that continues to drive me.”
“That is why I am so proud that Labor has committed to ensuring a rail line will connect our region to the new Western Sydney Airport. This is fundamental in ensuring that local residents have access to the benefits this project will provide, not least of which is 43 000 jobs, and that traffic is not further directed onto the already strained Northern Road, Narellan Road, and Camden Valley Way,” said the Member for Macarthur.
The preselection process formally opens this Friday the 13th, and closes on Friday the 20th October.
