THEY were in the limelight and few buckled under the pressure.
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Nine candidates appeared at The Standard’s South West Coast by-election forum and the topics thrown at them were varied.
Road funding was unsurprisingly given an airing. Warrnambool Base Hospital’s stage two redevelopment got a guernsey, as did renewable energy.
Outspoken independent candidate Swampy Marsh gained laughs when he made a double entendre about fracking. Fellow independent Roy Reekie took a few shots at his rivals on the panel. A question about where the candidates stood on abortion elicited noticeable groans from the audience.
When it came to a light-hearted question on political heroes, some candidates nominated luminaries while others went local.
Former PM Malcolm Fraser was nominated by several contenders.
One of his first speeches was on the Warrnambool Town Hall stage. He would agree that public speaking was not meant to be easy.
