Political expert’s take on Redlands’ top election priorities
A leading political expert has given their take on the key issues for the 2020 Redland City Council election, saying change may be tough.
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TOONDAH Harbour, healthcare and honesty will top the priority list for Redlands voters this council election according to a political expert.
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University of Queensland political expert Dr Chris Salisbury said controversy around the proposed Toondah Harbour development at Cleveland could lead some residents to vote against supporters of the project as environmental concerns come to the fore.
Those voters he said would most likely park their mayoral votes with Claire Richardson, who has shared her reservations about the reclaiming of wetlands for the project, or David Curtin, who has been outspoken in his stance against the $1.3 billion Walker Group project.
However Dr Salisbury doubted there would be enough appetite for change to oust incumbent Mayor Karen Williams, who he said had been supportive of the project.
“The current mayor has the advantage of incumbency on her side,” Dr Sailsbury said.
“Voters seem unlikely to vote for change in this current climate.”
Meanwhile, Dr Salisbury said candidates who had been at the centre of controversy themselves may struggle to win votes.
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“Integrity and transparency I think are issues that are going to feature heavily... we have had a lot of mayors and councillors sacked (in the likes of Ipswich and Logan councils).
“In this current environment there is so much voter wariness and unease in local governments generally... any sense that there’s a whiff of unease is going to work against them.”
Dr Salisbury said the large population of empty nesters and retirees could have a noticeable impact on the election’s outcome, with issues like easy access to health services a top priority for them.
He said support for things like transport infrastructure that made accessing medical needs easier for the population could heavily impact how much of the region votes.
He said Karen Williams’ strong support of recent state government upgrades to Redland Hospital’s ED would “again play into her favour”.
However he said some of the regions’ more mature population may be “a little bit over party politics and look to vote for someone out of the mainstream”.
“That may well speak to a larger demographic of what one could term ‘green inclined’ voters.”
He did, though, warn voters to be wary of promises councillors may not be able to keep in their roles.
“They really are beholden to the state,” he said.
The Redlands’ key 2020 council election topics:
Toondah
Healthcare
Roads
Transport infrastructure
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