If you asked Throsby MP Stephen Jones six months ago about Labor’s chances at the looming federal election his answer would have been “I’m not sure”.
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Now, after the party’s leader Bill Shorten delivered a rousing budget-in-reply speech on Thursday night, Mr Jones says the opposition is up for the fight.
“Bill showed last night he had the passion and the hunger to win this,” Mr Jones said on Friday. “I’m confident this election’s in play, even around the Illawarra there are seats in play. I think it can be won for Labor.”
The election is expected to be called – officially – for July 2 this weekend, likely on Sunday.
“I think Malcolm Turnbull’s gift to Australian mothers is Australia’s longest election campaign,” he said.
With campaigning set to ramp up, Mr Jones stressed Labor’s priorities were jobs, education and health.
“It [the election] will be a referendum on Medicare … it’ll be around the future of higher education, TAFE and schools,” he said.
Mr Jones was one of 280 people who attended the Illawarra Business Chamber’s 2016 federal budget lunch at the Novotel Wollongong Northbeach on Friday.
Social media trends, highlighted at the lunch by KPMG’s Anthony Mason, revealed health and education were the most talked about issues on Twitter on budget day.
Mr Mason said the budget was “becoming more of a Twitter event”.
“What’s being said on the budget is really key. It is social media users in part, in concert with traditional media, who do set the agenda for what actually is important and how people should feel about these [budget] policy areas,” he said.
Mr Mason said the Twitter sentiment to this year’s budget was similar to 2015 – Treasurer Scott Morrison’s “jobs and growth” budget was neutrally received.
Senior market analyst and regular media commentator for the Commonwealth Bank Savanth Sebastian was the event’s keynote speaker.
“The key is that we’re not having a budget that is overly, or at all, significantly stimulatory in the short term. It’s more about the broader medium-term prospects and trying to support the business confidence,” Mr Sebastian said.
“We have a real issue around non-mining business investment in this country and I think the government is trying avenues to try and boost that, which is commendable.”