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Thankyou and watch this space |
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Written by Edward Mandla
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007 |
Well the election is over and what an experience it was. For me
this election was the first step in a longer political journey.
I would like to thank all the people who gave up their time to help on
the campaign and all the people who voted for me. It’s a great
pleasure to walk the streets and have people come up to talk to me and
let me know I had received their vote. A number had never voted
Liberal before!
As for the bookies, they had me at 51 to 1 coming in behind Labor and
Greens. Coming second on primary votes was a great achievement
certainly cherished by my Campaign Manager Will Klassen who put in a
sterling effort throughout the campaign. My understanding from a
variety of scrutineers was many people who voted for Clover Moore 1
actually placed me 2 – this is very encouraging.
I maintain our area under an independent is neglected. Both sides
of politics avoid working with an independent and for the last 20 years
Sydney has been on the bottom of the list. No better example of
the neglect can be found than Oxford Street which I argued in debates
against Clover Moore was looking like Parramatta Road. Add to
this our transport congestion, lack of cycling opportunism, out of
control taxis and unreliable public transport and this important global
city is not operating at full potential.
Moving forward we have the Federal election and with boundary changes
Malcolm Turnbull is the local member for much of the area. It was
a pleasure to work with Malcolm during my campaign and he has already
developed a tremendous understanding of the nuances of our local
region. It’s where the forward thinking people live who challenge
conventional thinking!
Beyond the Federal election, we have council elections in September
2008. My President and City of Sydney Councillor Shayne Mallard
will be seeking re-election and moving closer to being Mayor.
Everything I did in the field was to make the Liberal Mallard brand
more powerful for the council elections. At a minimum, I trust
Shayne will be elected with one or two additional Liberals. Maybe
I will run in his team. In the meantime, keep a close look at
Shayne’s site www.shaynemallard.com/2006smw/index.htm
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