Environment Minister Questioned After Overlooking Hunter

BY GARY LYSAGHT

Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has slammed Environment minister Greg Hunt for providing assistance to Eurobodalla Council on the State’s south coast with their flying fox infestation.

Minister Hunt has been accused of largely ignoring the same calls from the Hunter, with Fitzgibbon saying it’s unfair its residents have been left out.

Flying foxes have destroyed the trees of Burdekin Park.

“The minister must extend the same consideration to Hunter Councils as he has to Eurobodalla.

“The problem goes as far up as Muswellbrook. We need assistance here too and the minister shouldn't be focussing just on those regions where he has a local sitting Liberal member.”

Fitzgibbon has been lobbying for assistance from the minister to help ease the significant problem of flying foxes facing the Hunter.

Eurobodella Council has invested $100 000 in their plan, which is said to have led to minister Hunt providing assistance.

“The inability of local Councils to invest large amounts of money in a strategy document should not be a barrier to government assistance,” Fitzgibbon said.

Fitzgibbon has called on the minister to provide “the same consideration and courtesy’s to local communities here in the Hunter”.

Singleton’s Burdekin Park is one of the hardest hit parts of the Hunter by flying foxes, with parts of Blackalls Park and Cessnock also being effected.

Eurobodella is located in the Federal Division of Eden-Monaro, which covers much of the region surrounding the ACT and the Victorian boarder.

Eden-Monaro - held by Liberal MP Peter Hendy.

The seat has been held by the Liberal Party since 2013, and is known to flip-flop between the two parties, never having an MP that isn't in government.

Fitzgibbon is expected to speak at the Raymond Terrace Community Bat Forum on Thursday evening, in an effort to address increasing concerns over the bat infestation.

Baldwin Staying in Paterson

Despite having his majority wiped out in the recent electoral redistribution in the Hunter, Paterson MP Bob Baldwin has ruled out moving away from the seat he's held since 2001.

MP Bob Baldwin with former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott

A report in The Australian on Thursday morning suggested Baldwin was considering defecting from the Liberal party, and running as an Independent for the seat of Lyne, currently held by Nationals MP David Gillespie.

The move was rumored because most of Baldwin's Liberal voters in Port Stephens and Dungog have moved into Lyne, while he's picked up Maitland and Kurri Kurri, traditional Labor strongholds.

A Coalition agreement means Liberal voters cannot contest a seat held by a National.

Before the redistribution, Baldwin held a 9.8% margin on Paterson however, the seat has now become a swinger, with a 1.3% swing to Labor.

Despite all the rumors, Baldwin is adamant he will stay in Patterson, calling the rumors rubbish.

But Baldwin wasn't the only one who saw major changes, with Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon seeing his electorate carved out between Pat Conroy's Charlton (to be renamed Hunter) and Deputy Nationals Leader, Barnaby Joyce's New England.

Despite the push-out, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has confirmed Fitzgibbon is likely to remain in politics.

Image courtesy of Andrew Meares, via The Sydney Morning Herald (LINK).
  

Radical Changes to Hunter Electorate Boundaries

The Australian Electoral Commission has made changes to the way Hunter residents will vote, by re-drawing the electoral boundaries in the area.

Under the changes, Hunter MP, Joel Fitzgibbon will be without a job as his electorate is split between Pat Conroy's Charlton and Barnaby Joyce's New England.

The northern parts of Charlton will be split between Newcastle and Shortland electorates under the changes.

The re-draw would have come to a blow for Paterson MP Bob Baldwin, who now has an uphill battle to hold his seat in the 2016 election.

Before the changes, Paterson was a Liberal seat with an almost 10% margin, but after moving South will become a marginal Labor seat with a 1.3% margin.

There is speculation that Fitzgibbon will take on Conroy's seat, which now includes his home base at Cessnock.

There is also talk Shortland MP Jill Hall will retire before the election, allowing Conroy to run in her place.

More will be known when pre-selection opens later this year.

Images courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald (LINK), The Daily Telegraph (LINK) and Athmitchell via Wikimedia (LINK).