THE State Labor Party has vowed to step up its presence ahead of the state election as it continues its controversial campaign against embattled Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell.
State Government Minister Kyam Maher has joined the Labor chorus calling for Mr Bell to resign from politics to force a by-election in Mount Gambier.
During a visit to the Blue Lake city, Mr Maher also continued the party’s relentless barrage on Opposition Leader Steven Marshall regarding the issue.
The Labor Party politician has now claimed some constituents were now turning away from seeking assistance from Mr Bell, who is facing a string of major indictable theft charges before the courts.
“I have had people tell me they are no longer comfortable going to Troy Bell on issues – that’s one of the compelling reasons Steven Marshall should call on him to resign,” Mr Maher told The Border Watch.
“I think it is very difficult for Mr Bell to serve Mount Gambier and effectively it means for a lot of people they don’t have a state representative.”
He claimed the Liberal Party leadership was not pressuring Mr Bell to resign because they were scared of a by-election.
Mr Maher said he believed a by-election was the right way forward.
“The state election is still half a year away and for Mount Gambier not to have effective representation for six months is a big thing,” he said.
The employment minister argued the region now had an alternative voice with Legislative Council Labor candidate Clare Scriven living in the Mount Gambier electorate.
“Clare is someone who is permanently here for constitute work and I will certainly be spending more time in Mount Gambier to make sure people have someone to speak with,” Mr Maher said.
The Labor minister also revealed the party was exploring the idea of establishing a party office in Mount Gambier.
“Certainly Clare and I will talk about how we can best serve the people of Mount Gambier given what they are facing at the moment,” Mr Maher said.
Asked about the party’s candidate process for the state election, he revealed a number of people had expressed interest.
“We will have more to say on that topic in coming weeks and we will certainly be taking the campaign very, very seriously in Mount Gambier,” he said.
“For the best part of a couple of decades, people have had an independent member in Mount Gambier.
“Mount Gambier would be very well served by a Labor candidate, but I think people have appreciated having an independent member and after this one flirtation with the Liberal Party, people will be hesitant to do that again at the state election.”
He said he believed the Liberal Party would face a significant “backlash” in the polls due to Mr Bell’s position.
“Steven Marshall hasn’t even come to Mount Gambier to apologise or explain why he thinks Troy Bell should remain in parliament – people will remember that at the next election,” he said.
“Troy is facing 26 very serious charges, some of them have maximum penalties of 10 to 15 years in prison for each count.”
