BY ISABEL EVERETT
Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has quit Labor's frontbench, citing mounting concerns over the parties climate policies.
The regional MP has resigned from his position as Shadow Agriculture and Resources Minister, a decision he says he planned to make 18 months ago, but will remain the representative for the Hunter.
Mr Fitzgibbon told the media on Tuesday he believes the Labor party has alienated blue collar workers, by pushing for significant cuts to carbon emissions without appropriate transition plans.
"I've been quite robust in some of my contributions and I have no regrets about that. I've been trying to take the Labor party back to it's traditional routes, trying to take the Labor party back to the party I knew when I first became a member 36 years ago."
"I am concerned we have a challenging culture, I think the Labor party has been spending too much time in recent years talking about issues like climate change, which is a very important issue, and not enough time talking about the needs of our traditional base."
Mr Fitzgibbon says moving to the back bench will give him more time to focus on retaining his seat in the Hunter electorate, after nearly losing his seat at the last Federal election.
In 2019, there was a 14.2% swing against Mr Fitzgibbon, towards One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds.
"I mean every election campaign I'm doing the work of a Shadow Minister and of a local candidate."
"Next time I expect I'll have the luxury of being a local candidate only, and I think that will make the job of winning back the confidence of my electorate a little easier."
Image: The Australian
