One of the stars of this year’s Raiders premiership, Paul Osborne, will consider running as an independent in the February 18 ACT election after turning down an offer by a group of Canberra businessmen to financially support him in a campaign to run as an independent.
“”If I decide to run it will be as a genuine independent,” he said yesterday. “”I would not want to be somebody else’s puppet.
“”Right now I’m relaxing after 10 years of football and I’ll think about it over Christmas.”
Nominations close on January 26.
Mr Osborne has been playing Rugby League for 10 years and has been with the NSW Police for seven. He laid on the critical passes for Canberra’s first to tries in the grand final.
“”These blokes (the businessmen) were ready to put up tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. “”But they would want something in return, even though they said they wouldn’t.”
Mr Osborne said he did not need the money. He had sufficient recognition in Canberra. He had not thought about standing before the businesspeople had approached him. But the idea was appealing and he would stand if “”I thought I could make an input”, but “”I wouldn’t want to owe anyone anything.”
Mr Osborne would not say who had approached him.
Presumably the business group will now look for another “”Independent” to sponsor.
The most recent opinion poll shows there is plenty of room for a new independent in each of Ginninderra and Brindabella. Under the Hare-Clark system the quota is 16.6 per cent in the five-seat electorates of Ginninderra and Brindabella and 12.5 per cent in the seven-seat electorate of Molonglo. But with preferences an independent could get elected with much lower percentages than these. The poll puts the two major parties in the low to mid-30s.
Of the sitting Independents only Michael Moore, who is standing in Molonglo, is polling significantly enough to be considered likely to win. Someone well known like Mr Osborne would have to be rated as a distinctly electable possibility.
Another Raiders connection, former player Dean Lance, has ruled himself out for this election.
He said that if he stood it would be as a Labor candidate, and as Labor had done its pre-selection it was not possible for him to stand. He had not ruled out standing in subsequent elections.
Mr Osborne coaches at West Belconnen and lives in Tuggeranong _ so he has connections with both Ginninderra and Brindabella electorates. He and his wife have two children and “‘we are committed to Canberra”. He is still training with the Raiders and will play if they are short. Other than that he has media work with FM 104.7 and some television work lined up.
Mr Osborne said he would have “”a common-sense approach”. He was worried about cuts to police, education and the hospital, and wants the Government to be more conscious of the family.
“”I don’t want my three-year-old to be in a class with 45 other kids,” he said.