It’s the footage every voter in Macquarie should see before they vote on July 2, according to Labor Senator Doug Cameron.
Federal Member for Macquarie Louise Markus struggled to name a major achievement as the local MP when interviewed on ABC’s 7.30 on Monday.
Chief political correspondent Sabra Lane asked the Liberal MP what was her “biggest achievement as local member”.
Her answer included five seconds of silence as she searched for a specific example.
“Oh that’s a hard one to answer because so many achievements are, you know, so vital and important,” said the Liberal MP. “Yeah, look, when you ask for a big achievement, I think about the small ones as well.”
The journalist eventually stated in a voiceover that Mrs Markus identified helping a patient secure money from a superannuation fund to buy a car to enable long distance travel to receive cancer treatment as a memorable accomplishment.
Springwood-based Senator Doug Cameron was watching at home on Monday night.
“I was gobsmacked that an MP couldn’t point to one reasonable delivery to the local community… She couldn’t put together any type of defence of her near decade in office,” he said. “But I also wasn’t surprised that she couldn’t point to anything, because there’s nothing to point to.”
Senator Cameron said Labor’s Macquarie candidate, Susan Templeman, had accomplished more for the electorate.
“Susan Templeman has delivered more as a candidate and community activist than the current MP has in 10 years… She’s got a fantastic record. It really is chalk and cheese when you compare them,” he said.
He named Ms Templeman’s securing of $9.5 million for the new theatre and community hub in Springwood as just one of her achievements for the area.
“Anyone who watched that [interview on 7.30] would be horrified that someone has been an MP for almost a decade and yet delivered nothing of any substance to the local community.
“Everyone should watch this before they cast their vote,” he said.
When contacted by the Gazette, Mrs Markus did not refer to the 7.30 appearance but said in a statement that Senator Cameron’s “claims are quite inaccurate”, before listing 39 specific examples as a “small sample” of her achievements.
“I have had so many achievements small and large to identify one is not simple,” she said.
“In my role as a Federal Member it is about the community and the individual lives I can touch and assist, which is why I spoke about helping a woman to access cancer treatment.
“I am well aware of my achievements in the electorate, and if Doug Cameron attended any of the candidate debates recently he would have heard them.”
The MP’s list of achievements to the Gazette varied from $1300 for Katoomba RSL Sub-Branch to $3.45 million for new or upgraded mobile base stations at Colo Heights, Kurrajong, Mount Tomah and Webbs Creek.
