Sitting Lindsay MP David Bradbury has taken one final swipe at his opponent Fiona Scott ahead of this weekend’s election, calling comments she made on television this week “silly” and “embarrassing”.
Ms Scott sparked a barrage of negative publicity on Monday night when she linked the asylum seeker issue with road congestion and hospital waiting times.
“Well yeah, it is a hot topic, but it’s a hot topic here because our traffic is overcrowded,” Ms Scott said on the ABC’s ‘Four Corners’ program when asked about the asylum seeker issue.
When pushed further, she said: “My recommendation is go and sit in the Emergency Department of Nepean Hospital or go and sit on the M4 and people see 50,000 people come in by boat; that’s more than twice the population of Glenmore Park where we just were.”
On Tuesday, Ms Scott said the comments were taken out of context, but Mr Bradbury was unforgiving.
“Miss Scott has given us a sneak peek of how she will represent our community,” he told the Weekender.
“With these silly comments she has reinforced many of the negative stereotypes about our community. Her comments are an embarrassment.”
Ms Scott was most likely trying to make the point that local residents were concerned about the billions of dollars being spent on questionable border protection policies when services and infrastructure are suffering, but Mr Bradbury said her comments showed why he should be re-elected at the election on Saturday.
“In me, people can be confident that they have someone with experience, someone who has delivered results and someone who will represent our community with dignity,” he said.
Mr Bradbury has held Lindsay for Labor since 2007, but polling suggests he is unlikely to retain the seat.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has visited the Lindsay electorate just once during the election campaign.
