BendigoWeekly www.bendigoweekly.com.au
ISSUE 975 FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016
BATTLE ON SHE’S BACK: Lisa Chesters this week. Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN
By SHARON KEMP
RETURNED Bendigo MP Lisa Chesters is ready to battle another federal election in the next 12 months should a re-run occur, but is more than happy to work in a House of Representatives balanced on a knife edge and reliant upon support from crossbenchers. As of yesterday, with counting continuing to show the Coalition slightly ahead nationally, Ms Chesters said it was unlikely Labor could
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Chesters to fight from opposition pull together a minority government. “It looks like they (the Coalition) will just get over the line by one or two seats, or they will try and work with the crossbenchers, that is if everything goes their way,” she told the Bendigo Weekly. “We are going to be short of a majority, that’s for sure, but we do have a good working relationship with the
crossbenchers already from when we were in a minority government (2010 -2013) and also from the last sitting.” Voting in the seat of Bendigo saw a swing to Labor that was reflected nationally, and Ms Chesters won her second term with a final margin of about 3.78 per cent. Her main post election message is that she will continue to lobby for
Church push for school and kindy – Page 3
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the electorate, not be distracted by career opportunities for herself in Canberra. Ms Chesters said she was comfortable lobbying in the parliament as it is likely to look in the short term, presenting private members’ bills and negotiating with crossbenchers for support. “It is about putting forward really
good ideas and using parliament to campaign for them,” she said. Ms Chesters listed the planned upgrade to the Bendigo Tennis Complex and money for the RSL, the National Broadband Network and commitments for local defence industries as priorities. “It gives us, because the numbers are tighter, the chance to use parliament to really campaign for extra for our region, and to lock in with all the other MPs where we have similar concerns,” she said. Continued Page 9
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