Angry Anderson considers Throsby tilt

By Bevan Shields
Updated November 6 2012 - 2:35am, first published October 3 2011 - 10:11am
Photo: ADAM HOLLINGWORTH.
Photo: ADAM HOLLINGWORTH.

Throsby MP Stephen Jones could face an unorthodox election challenge from ageing rocker Gary "Angry" Anderson.The 63-year-old Rose Tattoo frontman is considering a tilt at the seat for the Nationals, warning his appeal to disenchanted Labor voters would make him a formidable opponent."I know all about disenchanted Labor supporters ... I am one," Anderson told the Mercury yesterday."I think, and so do the Nationals, that there are people like myself starting to realise you don't have to blindly or naively vote for the same party, you're actually allowed to vote differently at elections."Anderson, who joined the conservative rural party last week, confirmed Throsby was discussed at a meeting with a handful of party officials in Sydney three weeks ago."It and a few other seats were raised as ones they want to win," he said.Small businessman Alan Hay won 4446 primary votes for the Nationals at last year's Throsby poll, compared to Labor's 42,227.Anderson, who lives in Beacon Hill in Sydney's northern beaches, conceded he knew little about the electorate."This will sound like I'm ill-prepared for my political life but the only thing I know about Throsby at this stage, and keep in mind this is all very preliminary, is where it is," he said."I think it's important to remember that if you run for a seat and win it, then you've got to go and live there and you have to relate to the people and they have to relate to you."Anderson still holds fond memories of performing in Wollongong."I've had some of the best gigs of my career down there and two of the worst fights I've ever been in as well," he laughed.Mr Jones declined to comment yesterday.The Nationals will meet in a fortnight to discuss Anderson's potential candidacy for Throsby, the northern NSW seat of Page, or another electorate, he said.Nationals federal director Brad Henderson said Anderson would have to undergo the same checks by the party's state head office as any other candidate.He said it would then be up to the preselection committee to decide whether he was the right candidate.Mr Henderson did not have any comment on whether Anderson would be a quality candidate."It's up to the preselectors to determine it," he said.Anderson has recently led anti-carbon tax rallies in Sydney and Canberra, appeared in Liberal Party election advertisements and has written that carbon tax is part of a global conspiracy.He is also a hard-working charity fundraiser, known on the South Coast for his role in helping establish an Ulladulla youth centre dedicated to two young men killed in the Bali bombings.

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