Peter Jenkins
While Labor threw the kitchen sink at trying to oust Independent MP Dai Le from Fowler in southwestern Sydney, she extended her hold on the seat with a 1 per cent swing. And tells the Daily Telegraph why she feels like Neil Armstrong.
When the red tsunami passed, Dai Le was still standing in the southwestern Sydney electorate of Fowler.Despite a nationwide wave of support for Labor, Fowler being located in their traditional heartland, and a “dirty campaign” mounted to oust her, the Independent MP repelled the challenge to remain in Parliament. “The Labor Party threw everything at me,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “I heard in the last two days before the election that Albo sent in his cavalry of staff to do handouts. “So I was up against huge party machinery, trying to defend against their resources and a massive campaign of lies.”
According to Dai Le, the Labor push to reclaim Fowler through first-time candidate Tu Le included a $1 million advertising spend in the final week.“Trying to discredit me, trying to smear me … it says more about their values than it does about me,” she said. “The Labor Party are really good at dirty campaigning.” Her campaign budget was “around $100,000”, leaving her outgunned 10 to 1 in the dollars war aimed at winning hearts and minds.
“It felt like I was David against Goliath,” she said after securing a 1 per cent swing to strengthen her hold on the seat she won in 2022.“They were sending out personalised messages into the Vietnamese community saying a vote for me was a vote for Peter Dutton and that a vote for me would see Medicare cut.”
For the record Dai Le preferenced the Liberal candidate at No. 4 on her how to vote flyers. Reaching for another historical analogy, she added: “I feel like Neil Armstrong when he landed on the moon. I’ve put the flag in the ground.“They tried to knock me off with so much money spent on falsehoods and lies. But I’m looking forward to being a strong voice and the conscience for western and southwestern Sydney.
“Many of the Ministers and MPs from Western Sydney will go back to their comfortable lives, they’ve got their seats now. But I can assure them people are still struggling.“I’m probably the only voice now that will ensure the government will not forget Western Sydney and that they have to invest here.“Despite the attempted character assassinations, the spreading of lies, in the end I’m still standing.”
Source: The Independent who repelled the red wave in Labor heartland | The Daily Telegraph Online