WAGGA mayor Kerry Pascoe has hit

WAGGA mayor Kerry Pascoe has hit out at NSW Premier Kristina Keneally for lending her political weight to the federal election campaign rather than spending time on important state issues such as a new hospital for Wagga.Ms Keneally was yesterday in Bathurst ? within marginal seats at both federal and state level ? to discuss Charles Sturt University's (CSU) plans for a medical clinic in Orange and an integrated primary healthcare clinic in Bathurst.She also announced a $1.5 million boost for Bathurst Hospital.Although her visit was targeted at state matters, a more cynical view is that Ms Keneally was in Bathurst to try to draw attention to some "good work" done by Labor in regional NSW as Julia Gillard battles the potentially election-deciding perception that Labor, at all levels, had done more damage than good in the past few years."It concerns me that Kristina Keneally is visiting Bathurst today (yesterday)," Councillor Pascoe said."My request to have Kristina Keneally to this area to discuss my concerns about the future of the hospital has been ignored, which is a slap in the face for the people of Wagga."It begs the question ? do we need to make our local seats marginal, at both federal and state level, to get the attention we deserve?"Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire was also scathing in his analysis of Ms Keneally's election-eve visit to Bathurst but he said it was no surprise."At this point in time, they'll do and say anything to get elected," Mr Maguire said."You'll see lots of examples of this from Labor ? they've got form."According to CSU vice-chancellor Professor Ian Goulter however, the attention its medical schools were getting from high-profile politicians on the eve of the election was purely coincidental."We've been working on this for a number of months and the need (for the medical clinics) is such that we couldn't afford to sit on the announcement," Prof Goulter said."It can't be said that it's politically motivated."Logic overrides any political aspects."