14 APRIL 2022
ISSUE 338
News
Like a rainbow ...
The NSW Government has announced the University of Newcastle as the preferred partner to deliver a Gosford university campus on the old Mitre 10 site in Mann St. See page 5
Out&About
Coast Opera Australia (COA) will present a Salute to the ANZACS at Central Coast Stadium on Monday, Aprill 25, at 5.30pm. See page 15
Business
Students from Umina Beach Public School have raised a record $38,000 in support of school projects at a ColourRun fundraiser on April 6. See page 13
Robertson and Dobell emerge as key election battlegrounds Central Coast voters will head to the polls in five weeks after Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, called the federal election for Saturday, May 21 and the outcome of the seats of Robertson and Dobell could prove critical. Morrison flew to Canberra on Sunday, April 10, to meet the Governor-General and officially set the date. In doing so, he became the first prime minister since John Howard more than 14 years ago to serve a full term as the nation’s leader.
He will be hoping to make this the fourth term in government for the Liberal-National Party (LNP) Coalition. The Coalition enters the election holding just 76 of the 150 seats, while Labor holds 69 seats following changed electoral boundaries. Labor will need to pick up at least seven seats to win a majority. Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, begins the campaign ahead in the polls, with the April 4 IPSOS poll putting the ALP ahead of the Coalition 55 per cent to 45 per cent on a two-
party preferred basis. Robertson In the seat of Robertson, which covers the southern part of the Central Coast, incumbent Liberal Lucy Wicks will also be campaigning for a fourth term. Wicks first took the seat in 2013 with a slim 1.1 per cent margin. After suffering a 1.9 per cent swing against her in 2016, she retained the seat, before a swing in her favour saw her reelected again in 2019 with a 4 per cent margin. With polls predicting a nationwide swing towards
Labor, Wicks will face strong opposition from Labor candidate, Dr Gordon Reid. Dobell In Dobell, which covers a large part of the Central Coast north from Narara, Labor member Emma McBride will be trying to hold onto a slim 1.5 per cent majority after suffering a 3.3 per cent swing against her (1.4 per cent on first preferences) in 2019. Her chief opponent will be the Liberals’ Dr Michael Feneley, who previously stood as the Liberal candidate in the 2010 and 2016 federal elections in
the seat of Kingsford Smith and was a candidate for Liberal preselection in the 2018 Wentworth by-election. According to the ABC, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) head, Tom Rogers, says this election will be Australia’s “biggest, most expensive and likely most complex ever”. Pre-poll voting will start on May 9 – 12 days before polling day – and the AEC is expecting a surge in postal votes, in part due to COVID, which could delay the final result. Terry Collins
A new major festival aimed at supporting local business rebound from the effects of COVID-19 and attract new enterprises to the region is to be held in August. See page 22
Sport
A local teen has defied the odds and clinched silver at Round One of the 2022 NSW Formula Ford Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park on April 10. See page 32
Puzzles page 18
It all starts with spirit spiritsuper.com.au Advice on Spirit Super is provided by Quadrant First Pty Ltd (ABN 78 102 167 877, AFSL 284443) and issuer is Motor Trades Association of Australia Superannuation Fund Pty Ltd (ABN 14 008 650 628, AFSL 238718), the trustee of Spirit Super (ABN 74 559 365 913). Read the PDS at spiritsuper.com.au before making a decision.
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