Whatever your view of Tony Abbott and his policies, it’s a bit much to accuse him of contributing to suicides. And yet a prospective Labor MP has done exactly that.
Adrian Schonfelder, Labor candidate for Flinders in Victoria — a seat currently held by Liberal environment spokesman Greg Hunt — is quoted in today’s local newspaper Western Port News, published by the Mornington Peninsula News Group. It quotes Schonfelder saying that Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s promotion of “wedge issues” has had an “influence on suicide”. According to Schonfelder, it seems WorkChoices isn’t the only thing Abbott has killed off, buried and cremated.
When pressed to clarify this claim, Schonfelder lists Abbott’s “very strong religious views and views on abortion … s-x before marriage … all very conservative and not necessary” as “influencing people to take their own lives.”
“His views are not uniting the country; they’re dividing the country,” Schonfelder told Western Port News.
The Federal seat of Flinders in southern Victoria has been held by high profile Liberal Greg Hunt since 2001. Despite a nearly 4% drop in his primary vote at the 2007 election, Hunt easily won the seat outright with 54.5% of the vote (61% after preferences).
His nearest rival was the ALP’s Gary March with 34% of votes, followed by the Greens’ Bob Brown (not Greens glorious leader Bob Brown, another Bob Brown) with 8.5%.
The seemingly unassailable lead provides a problem for Labor which must find a “sacrificial lamb” to stand in a seat that seems unwinnable. Hunt is now Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage, a high-profile position that his opponents will have trouble matching for publicity opportunities.
Enter Adrian Schonfelder.
Labor’s candidate for Flinders, Schonfelder holds the position of having been a member of the Liberal Party longer than he has the Labor Party.
Schonfelder has worked for the Victorian Farmers Federation and was a member of the Liberal Party from 1993 to 2002 but resigned after realising he was a “voice in the wilderness”. He voted Labor in the 2002 state election and joined the ALP in 2004. He has hit the ground running for Labor with this attack on Abbott’s conservative policies. The “voice in the wilderness” has started to roar.
A couple of days ago, Tony Abbott said he expected a “filthy campaign from the Labor Party”. It seems that an ex-member of his own party is happy to oblige.
Neil Walker is publications manager at The Western Port News, one of the local papers for the electorate of Flinders. Are you a journalist or editor on a local paper? Send us your take on how the Federal election is playing in your electorate to boss@crikey.com.au.
I suppose what goes around comes around. Doesn’t seem so long ago that Abbott was blaming Garrett and Rudd for deaths of insulation installers.
It’s well known that young gay teenagers, especially young gay rural teenagers, are one of the highest risk groups for suicide, largely because of their intense and often justified fear of being excluded or persecuted if they are honest about their sexuality. Schonfelder may be dramatising but his statement is based on fact.