During the campaign rally Howard also blasted Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese for forgetting the unemployment rate in the first week of the campaign,a dramatic departure from his original reaction of “so what?” when asked about the gaffe.
“These men and women are all posing as independents,” Howard said of independent candidates such as Allegra Spender in Wentworth,Kylea Tink in North Sydney and Zoe Daniel in Goldstein. All are backed by businessman Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 fundraising group.
“They’re not independents,they’re anti-Liberal groupies,” Howard told a crowd of Liberal supporters at the Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club. “I say that because they’re not running in any Labor seats.
“If they were genuinely independent why would they not be running a candidate against Anthony Albanese in Grayndler or Tanya Plibersek in Sydney?”
“Their aim is to hurt the Liberal Party,not to represent the middle ground of their electorates.”
Howard urged any voters who might be a “bit grumpy” with the Morrison government over various issues not to lodge a protest vote with the independents.