Vic: Greens running a Labor candidate by proxy: Costello

AAP General News (Australia)
12-05-2009
Vic: Greens running a Labor candidate by proxy: Costello

By Catherine Best

MELBOURNE, Dec 6 AAP - Greens candidate Clive Hamilton is a proxy runner for the Labor
Party in the seat of Higgins, former treasurer Peter Costello says.

Mr Costello joined Liberals candidate Kelly O'Dwyer on the hustings in his former Melbourne
seat for the by-election on Saturday.

Casting his vote at Malvern Primary School, in safe Liberal heartland, Mr Costello
said the fight for Higgins would be tight.

Ms O'Dwyer is expected to easily win Higgins, which is held by the Liberals by a margin
of 7 per cent.

The Labor Party is not running a candidate.

"We would have preferred the Labor Party to run, the Labor Party wouldn't fight Higgins
so we know that they're using Clive Hamilton as their front candidate ... he's the Labor
candidate in this election," Mr Costello told reporters.

"At the end of the night when you hear the Greens say how much they increased their
vote just remember this, their vote is the Labor vote in this election and Labor is locking
behind Clive Hamilton in this by-election."

Mr Costello described Dr Hamilton, a Canberra academic, as a "blow-in from the ACT",
saying his candidacy was a stunt and the Greens were treating voters with contempt.

The people of Higgins should vote for someone who lived in the electorate and knew
the local issues, he said.

But the former treasurer also acknowledged the disarray in the Liberal Party over the
past few weeks would be felt at the ballot box.

"It was a tough week in Canberra last week, there's no doubt about that. Some people
will take that into account but I actually think more people will take this into account:
one, Labor didn't run; two, the Greens didn't put up a local candidate ... they blew someone
in from the ACT who knows nothing about Higgins."

Mr Costello declined a how-to-vote card from the Australian Sex Party as he arrived
at the polling booth, in Melbourne's leafy southeast.

Asked what it felt like not to be voting for himself, he quipped: "When I voted for
myself I was always confident I was voting for the best candidate. Now that I'm voting
for Kelly I'm confident I'm voting for somebody even better."

AAP cmb/sn/cjb/de

KEYWORD: HIGGINS COSTELLO

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