Removing the carbon tax, stopping big supermarket chains from taking over Australia, creating work for the region's "much maligned youth" and guaranteeing school funding were among the hot topics when Opposition Leader Tony Abbott fronted a community forum in Nowra this morning.
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About 200 Gilmore residents and community groups, such as the CWA, Men’s Sheds and View Clubs, were allowed through the doors of Nowra School of Arts to hear Mr Abbott speak.
Liberal candidate Ann Sudmalis, who organised the event, said voters had been “randomly selected” and sent invites in the mail.
The tightly controlled nature of Mr Abbott’s visit ruffled the feathers of South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris, who was not allowed into the forum as he didn’t have a printed invite.
“Is this the democracy that we’ll be seeing if Tony Abbott is elected after September? Is he going to govern by invitation only?,” Mr Rorris said.
‘‘I thought the idea was that governments are supposed to govern for all, not just those who share their views.”
Mr Rorris said he had planned to ask Mr Abbott “why he was standing in the way of the school children of Nowra receiving hundreds of millions of dollars” through the Labor Government’s school funding plan.
The opposition leader was otherwise warmly received by the audience, which was described by one questioner as “a field of grey hair”.
As he tackled about a dozen questions from the floor - repeating his well-known promises to “stop the boats, get rid of the carbon tax and bring the budget back to black” – Mr Abbott received applause and plenty of cries of “hear, hear”.
Mr Abbott’s appearance at the community forum followed a quick stop at South Nowra family-owned wholesale business V&C Food Distributors.
He arrived in Nowra late last night, after a brief appearance at a Liberal Party fund-raising dinner at City Beach Function Centre in Wollongong.
Mr Abbott will this afternoon dine at a private function at Worrigee House, near Nowra, before heading to Sydney later this evening.
