REMEMBER those photos of Bill Shorten “comforting” a woman who had been involved in a serious head-on collision after trying to overtake his dawdling convoy on Cessnock Rd last Thursday?

Remember all the stories lauding his empathy, and ALP candidate Meryl Swanson raving about what an “outstanding” man he was because he’d invited the 33-year-old driver of the Mitsubishi Magna and her two-year-old son to take refuge in his car while emergency services freed the other driver from her Nissan Pulsar.

“It’s often when a person’s true character is shown, in a situation like this.” Swanson said.

Ain’t that the truth. Turns out the families of both drivers involved in the accident are furious with Shorten and have blasted him on social media.

“I find it very difficult to comprehend that anyone could give clearance for a cavalcade to pull up in that location, it’s bloody ludicrous!” wrote Shane Lee, the partner of the woman driving the white Mitsubishi which overtook the convoy.

Channel Nine footage shows Shorten’s convoy starting to pull off the road just before the sound of the two cars colliding.

While the crash is not on camera, Lee alleges his wife swerved to avoid the final vehicle in Shorten’s convoy which had “not only FAILED TO INDICATE but also DID NOT PULL COMPLETELY OFF THE ROAD”.

Whatever is the case, locals are aghast Shorten chose to stage a media event on the narrow verge of that dangerous stretch of Cessnock Rd at Testers Hollow.

Lee could not be contacted yesterday but he also claimed photographs taken of Shorten talking to his partner was less empathy and more political opportunism.

Equally unimpressed is the gran of 21-year-old Tayla Simmons, the driver of the blue Pulsar who was taken to hospital suffering multiple injuries.

“Good on you Bill Shorten, did you bother to ask how she was or even ring John Hunter Hospital to ask?” Jann Saunders-Bailey wrote on Facebook

She did not return calls yesterday and a relative, Samantha, declined to comment.

But on Friday afternoon, a couple of hours after Shorten’s office was alerted by The Daily Telegraph to her Facebook comments, Saunders-Bailey posted: “I would just like to tell everyone that I have spoken to Meryl Swanson and Bill Shorten and everything is OK. Please don’t comment any more.”

The Labor campaign clean-up crew had done its work.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/bill-shortens-ghoulish-display-a-p...

Its time wrote on May 25^th, 2016 at 9:31am:

While the crash is not on camera, Lee alleges his wife swerved to avoid the final vehicle in Shorten’s convoy which had “not only FAILED TO INDICATE but also DID NOT PULL COMPLETELY OFF THE ROAD”.

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 25^th, 2016 at 9:33am:

So no proof, gotcha

Oh dear Armpit 

I can only guess someone will be suing someone...

at the end of the day no one was killed... thank god for that......

obviously the media were part of the motorcade.....and must have a very good idea what and why...

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 25^th, 2016 at 9:39am:


Link ?  , do you ever think , if i post this up i am going to look like a right dickhead ?

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 25^th, 2016 at 9:39am:



an autographed selfie maybe...

Since they wont comment on operational matters and essentially they've shut the media out, we essentialy only have the governments word that the government has stopped the boats