Labor is about votes, not preference deals

If we want a Shorten Labor government after July 2, we need to vote 1 Labor. It is that simple.

During this election campaign, the Labor Herald has provided some coverage to preferences, particularly the behind-the-scenes machinations and deals of the Greens and Liberals. But as Bill Shorten said today, if you want a Labor government, you need to vote Labor.

“I’m chasing every first preference I can for the Labor Party,” said the Labor leader. “We are determined to win government.

“In order to win government, we intend to win as many seats as we can,” he added.

“Malcolm Turnbull can worry about second and third preference votes; I’m worried about the first preference votes.”

That means talking about the issues important to the Australian people, the issues of everyday concern.

“What I’m interested in is talking about the issues that are vitally important to Australians,” said Shorten.

“Labor’s agenda is the issues vitally important to Australians: jobs, Medicare, education.

“Australians are interested in this agenda, the Labor agenda.

“What Mr Turnbull does in his deals is up to Mr Turnbull.

“Our agenda is the Australian agenda.”

“What I’m interested in is talking about the issues that are vitally important to Australians.

“When you talk about these seats, Labor is running to win this election.

“Malcolm Turnbull can worry about second and third preference votes; I’m worried about the first preference votes.

“I’m going to chase the votes of Australians because we’ve got the best agenda to protect Medicare, to make sure we have jobs for Australians.

“Our agenda is the Australian agenda.

“I will do what we have do to make sure the Labor Party does as well as it possibly can, because we have an agenda which is what Australians are vitally interested in. Full stop,” Shorted added.

This article first appeared in the Labor Herald.