Independent Fisher candidate Keryn Jones reveals key priorities

A former Sunshine Coast councillor is vowing to shake up the region’s political landscape, weighing in on the nuclear debate and the dire need for better mental health services.

Independent candidate for Fisher Keryn Jones.

A former Sunshine Coast councillor is vowing to shake up the region’s political landscape, weighing in on the nuclear debate and the dire need for better mental health services.

Keryn Jones has announced she will run as an independent in the upcoming federal election, after previously serving as a councillor on the Sunshine Coast Council for division three.

Ms Jones and her husband also operate a successful solar power company on the Sunshine Coast.

“We were one of the first businesses to do solar on the coast and we were instrumental in helping Caloundra become one of the leading solar postcodes,” Ms Jones said.

For the former councillor, who has been entrenched in the community for decades, running as an independent rather than a major party candidate is something that came naturally.

“Even if a party was to tap me on the shoulder and say do you want to run, I would have never done it, it is not the vibe I’m into,” Ms Jones said

“I’m into standing up for the community, not for a party.”

The community group behind Ms Jones’ campaign, Voices for Fisher, has received funding from Climate-200.

However, Ms Jones rejected the “teal” label, previously stating she believed it only referred to inner-city seats.

Independent candidate for Fisher Keryn Jones with the Voices of Fisher community group.

Ms Jones said the local community was not ready to embrace nuclear power, a key energy policy proposed by the LNP.

“Climate has been quite high on our consultation results and environmental protection is always high on the Sunshine Coast, I’ve been part of consultations for decades now,” Ms Jones said.

“Renewables are so popular, that is why we have some of the leading postcodes in Australia for that, people know they work and they also know that nuclear is too slow, it’s too costly and it is not viable, it is a concern for people.”

Ms Jones said while the 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games were not high on the priority list of voters, the event presented the opportunity to get public transport on the Sunshine Coast right.

“We can’t just keep building out roads forever, we don’t want the traffic nightmare of LA or something like that, while of course we need better roads we do need proper, reliable, fast and efficient public transport,” Ms Jones said.

Ms Jones said she was also passionate about improving the access to mental health services in the region.