The itineraries and social media appear below
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Hello again.
We now have two weeks to go, and what a week it’s been.
This week was all about that Base, about that Base… hospital… as Goulburn Liberal MP Pru Goward announced, along with Health Minister Jillian Skinner, that $120 million had been approved for a redevelopment of the Goulburn Base Hospital (with another $12 million for Yass Hospital, and $50 million for Bowral).
Yoinks! Did not see that one coming.
Imagine… a major election funding carrot for little old Goulburn? It’s been so long…
Of course the two main parties had different takes on the announcement.
The Libs insisted it was no carrot and was always a priority (to which Labor said “well, they would say that”).
Labor said that it’s blatant election opportunism and vote buying (to which Liberals said “well, they would say that”).
So then the experts joined in with doctors and nurses saying a patch-up of the existing hospital isn’t enough and that a whole new hospital is needed. Apparently the announcement doesn’t completely rule out a whole new hospital, but the amount on offer almost certainly does.
So then there was a hospital related sequel to #pamphletgate.
You may remember that Ursula Stephens produced a pamphlet (see Exhibit A in the carousel) that contained pictures of National Party voters and was with green and gold colours, which in political circles, are widely associated with the National Party and the argument was made by Labor Party opponents that the pamphlet might be construed as misleading.
Well, every good yarn deserves a sequel.
Pru Goward has produced a pamphlet (Exhibit B in the carousel) that says Goulburn will be getting a “New Hospital”, which are words that are widely associated with… you know… a NEW HOSPITAL… and the argument was made that the pamphlet might be construed as misleading.
Anyhoo, the Post and other Fairfax papers in the electorate carried a wealth of coverage on the announcement from every conceivable angle.
But late in the week, there was yet another twist relating to the hospital announcement, which is becoming the gift that keeps on giving in terms of the news cycle. In Friday's Post Outdoor Recreation Party candidate Wal Ashton expressed that he feels dudded by the lack of consultation regarding the hospital announcement, to which Pru Goward said (and I paraphrase here) well, he would say that.
So angry with Pru is Wal, that he has said he’ll vote for Ursula instead of himself in protest.
Holy snappers. This stuff is good enough for Gogglebox. That's a big call, but I'm standing by it.
Who’dathought such a boon as a much-begged for hospital upgrade would cause such a stir?
Opponents to the hospital announcement suggest it’s not enough funding for a new hospital, that a renovation won’t suffice and that if this much IS spent on a reno, it will effectively stop Goulburn from ever getting a new one.
So much to think about ahead of the election…
Oh, and where are my manners. A sixth candidate has joined the fray. Stephen Fitzpatrick has nominated for the No Land Tax Party. We haven't seen him or herd from him yet but hopefully we'll have something to share with you about him by next week.
Next week is what I think of the championship round. The second last week of the campaign is in my mind the most important time to land their (figurative) punches, make their (literal) points and impress upon the voters what a win to them and their party means to the electorate.
Will there be more funding announcements? Will there be more leaflets? Stay tuned.
Quick plug ... if you're going to the Goulburn candidate's forum tonight, feel free to live tweet using the hashtag #GoulburnForum. If you read this AFTER the event and don't possess time travelling equipment, please ignore this.
On to the itineraries and as always, they are listed in the order we received them and the photos in the carousel are those we received from candidates.
The social media collation appears underneath the itineraries. There's not much use being made by the candidates of Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Soundcloud, but we've compiled what we could. It doesn't include links to all of the election coverage by the Fairfax papers in the region, but you can find all of that here.
- Friday, March 13: Meet the Candidate Goulburn Workers
- Saturday, March 14: Yass Show
- Monday, March 16: Meet the Candidate Yass
- Tuesday, March 17: Doorknocking in Yass
- Wednesday, March18: Doorknocking in Crookwell
- Thursday, March 19: Doorknocking in Goulburn
- Friday, March 20: Doorknocking in Southern Highlands, Meet the Candidate Bundanoon
- Saturday, March 21: Goulburn Show
- Friday, March 13: 9:00am - Campaign Event, Showground – Moss Vale; 6:00 PM - Candidate Forum, Workers Club - Goulburn
- Saturday, March 14: 9:00 AM - Campaign Event, Showground - Moss Vale
- Sunday, March 15: Campaign Event, Showground - Moss Vale
- Monday, March 16: Pre Polling, Goulburn / Yass; 6:00 PM - Candidate forum, Yass Memorial Hall
- Tuesday, March 17: Pre Polling, Goulburn / Yass
- Wednesday, March 18: Pre Polling, Goulburn / Yass
- Thursday, March 19: Pre Polling, Goulburn / Yass
- Friday, March 20: Pre Polling, Goulburn / Yass
- Saturday, March 21: Pre Polling, Goulburn / Yass; 8:00 AM - Campaign Event, Showground - Goulburn
- Sunday, March 22: 8:00 AM - Campaign Event, Showground - Goulburn
- Saturday, March 7 – Stall at the Goulburn Markets, Robertson local business tour followed by Robertson Show. Marulan village visit in the evening.
- Sunday, March 8 – Taralga Show, International Women’s Day event in Towrang, Guest of Honour at the Bundanoon ‘Grow, Cook, Eat’ festival, followed by the Tarago show.
- Monday, March 9 – Meeting with school principals and Anglicare, presentations at Mulwaree High School followed by Moss Vale village visit.
- Tuesday, March 10 – Goulburn and Highlands hospital announcements with NSW Minister for Health, Official Campaign Launch at the CWA rooms Goulburn with NSW Minister for Health followed by radio interviews.
- Wednesday, March 11 – Addressed the Goulburn Chamber of Commerce, constituent meetings, radio interviews, street stall Goulburn, Barton Highway announcement with Angus Taylor MP, Yass Ambulance Station announcement followed by the Crookwell Meet the Candidates night.
- Thursday, March 12 – United Hospital Auxiliary conference Goulburn RSL, street stall Goulburn followed by constituent meetings
- Friday, March 13 – Robertson village visit, Moss Vale Show followed by Goulburn Post candidate’s forum.
- Saturday, March 14 – Yass show, Moss Vale Show, Goulburn birthday celebrations, Rose Festival, exhibition opening at GRAG, greatest shave event Bundanoon, community BBQ at Bungonia followed by Trinity College Harvest dinner
- Sunday, March 15 – Yass Show, heritage parade Goulburn, Moss Vale seniors event
- Friday, March 13: Goulburn candidates forum at the Wokers Club
- Saturday, March 14: Moss Vale Show, Yass Show. Evening - Campaign launch
- Sunday, March 15: Goulburn and Yass,
- Monday, March 16: Yass candidate forum Mon night.
- Tuesday, March 17: Moss Vale, Privatisation forum in Goulburn with Anthony Allbanese
- Wednesday, March 18: Goulburn prepoll
- Thursday, March 19: Moss Vale prepoll and cocktail party with Tanya Plibersek in Moss Vale
- Friday, March 20: Prepoll, Goulburn
- Saturday, March 21: Goulburn show