Josh Frydenberg dismisses poll showing he is set for defeat against Monique Ryan and claims ‘underdog’ status in tight race
Categories: US NEWS
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has dismissed polling which shows he would lose the seat of Kooyong if the Federal Election was held today and claimed he was the "underdog" in the tight race.A YouGov survey commissioned by The Australian showed he would be defeated by Climate 200-backed independent Dr Monique Ryan on a two-party-preferred margin of 53 to 47 per cent.The Victorian seat has been held by Liberal hands since the party was formed in 1945 and has never been represented by a Labor member in its history. “There’s only one poll that counts, and that’s election day and we saw ahead of the last election again the polls were pointing one way and the final result showed another,” Mr Frydenberg told Sky News Australia outside a pre-polling station in Kooyong.“It is difficult to see polls predict the outcomes, a lot of people don’t answer their phones, a lot of people don’t participate in the polling.“That being said I do think we are starting this campaign as the underdog.” Prime Minister Scott Morrison was also quizzed about the polling and whether he had an alternative Treasurer in mind should the Coalition win the election, but Mr Frydenberg lose his seat.He said he would not be “speculating” on the result as he knew “Josh will be returned” before shifting to attack Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese on speculation who would be on his frontbench.Mr Frydenberg also hit out at Dr Ryan for having “very little detail” about policies and her integrity pledge. But he disputed his opponent’s integrity claims pointing to the Sky News Australia Kooyong People’s Forum where Dr Ryan called Mr Frydenberg the “Treasurer of NSW”.“Their (Dr Ryan’s) so-called mission statement about integrity in politics is not worth the paper it’s written on because they’re out there sledging day after day,” Mr Frydenberg said.Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 has funded 15 independent candidates in the lower house for this upcoming election who all have similar campaign pledges including greater action on climate change and support for a national integrity commission.