The announcement has been made that Warren Mundine will be standing as a Liberal Candidate for Gilmore. Pm Scott Morrison was in Nowra today with Mr Mundine and told the media pack "Warren will provide outstanding leadership to the people of Gilmore if given the opportunity” When asked about Mr Mundine's residency it was revealed that Mr Mundine would be buying a house in the Shoalhaven in the next 24 to 48 hours. "Not from Grant Schulltz" was one comment. Asked about his connection to the area Mr Mundine told reporters "My grandparents were born here. My great-grandparents were born here. My great-great-grandparents were born here," Mr Mundine said. "And then my great-great-great-grandparents were born here at Moruya, Kiama, and here at the Shoalhaven River." Scott Morrison added "Warren's connection to the South Coast goes back a long way. I mean, it basically goes back longer than the rest of us, who've shown up since settlement, basically. This is his ancestral home." The ripples throughout Gilmore of the news that the Liberals had dumped local selected candidate Grant Schulz with a "Captains Call" by the Prime Minister has seriously got up the noses of Liberals in the electorate with some of those who backed Grant Schultz resigning from the party. Mr Schultz has now declared he will be running as an independent “I’m angry and I’m disappointed they have betrayed the people of Gilmore.” Grant Schultz - Independent for Gilmore In the meantime the Labor candidate Fiona Phillips continues on with her solid and, to date, unchallenged campaign to win the marginal seat of Gilmore while the Liberals in the electorate appear to be crashing and burning around her. In a media release issued today by Labor's Gilmore candidate, Ms Phillips said "The extraordinary intervention by the Prime Minister to overrule local Liberals and parachute Mr Mundine into the electorate is just another terrible decision from a Liberal party that is totally out of touch with the people of Gilmore.
"Dumping locally preselected Liberal candidate Mr Schultz for Mr Mundine - who lives on Sydney's upper north shore - shows how little respect the Prime Minister has for local Liberals, let alone local people."
"The chaos of the Liberal party in Canberra has now taken over here in Gilmore. Local people deserve better."
“People are sick of bad decisions being made by political insiders, in capital cities that show contempt for regional Australians.” Fiona Phillips:, Labor's Gilmore Candidate
Asked about the complete lack of any Liberal presence at the coalface with Grant Schultz unable to represent the electorate until formally endorsed and thereby negating any "marketing" since Ann Sudmalis "stood down" Ms Phillips said of her own campaign “Since the last election, I’ve been a part of Bill Shorten’s stable team, and doing the hard work, out talking to local people about the things that matter to them. "I’ve lost count of how many pairs of shoes I’ve worn out knocking on doors in that time.”
“I say to Gilmore residents: I’ve been fighting for you since the last election and I won’t stop fighting for you, I’m on your side”.
Gilmore covers an area along the coast from Kiama in the north to Tuross Head in the south.
