Economy
It’s nothing personal, Eric …
Today I have posted an advertisement encouraging readers to visit my Senate campaign web page at scienceparty.org.au, in order to STOP Senator Eric Abetz. Some readers may think that I may be on a personal ‘if you can’t join ’em beat ’em, revenge kick’ for being rejected by the Liberal Party earlier this year: What happened when I applied to re-join the Tasmanian Liberal Party …
But I’m not.
Indeed I have the utmost respect for Eric; his intelligence, his hard work and his political skills.
Where Eric and I differ are our world views. I am a strong believer in the separation of the church from the state (secularism) and Eric is not. It’s as simple as that.
My core beliefs are socially progressive, whilst Eric’s are socially conservative.
Why do I think that I can STOP Eric? Apart from the Science Party being a moderate, centrist party with some great policies, I will be (to the best of my knowledge) the only Tasmanian Senate candidate (non-Liberal) with a former Liberal pedigree; as an endorsed candidate and as a branch president.
Moderate Liberal voters may more likely to vote for me than for Labor or Green candidates, particularly if they choose to vote below the line. If enough of them do so and if enough “rusted on” Labor and Green voters also give me their preferences, then there is a slight possibility of a “Bradbury” result, at the Liberals’ expense.
If Eric’s Senate team perform poorly, his influence within the Liberal Party and the Government would drastically decline.
Who knows? He might even retire, having recently acknowledged that he would be paid more from his parliamentary pension than if he kept working as a backbencher.
I am happy to discuss these or any other issues you may have, directly and can be contacted at hans.willink@scienceparty.org.au
Responsbility for election comment is taken by Hans Willink, 799 Acton Road, Acton Park.