Federal election 2022: Nationals candidate for Richmond Kimberly Hone

The Nationals Candidate for Richmond Kimberly Hone speaks about key issues this election including childcare, housing and a federal ICAC.

Helping women back into the workforce, giving regional universities a fair share and youth mental health are just some of the platforms Nationals Candidate Kimberly Hone is running on this election.

Here’s what Mrs Hone had to say about key topics this election.

Childcare:

“Three young children, a career and a packed calendar of voluntary work are the challenges many local women including me, face and love every day,” Mrs Hone said.

“We are passionate about our families, but we choose to contribute to the economy and to our community as well.”

She said government support for childcare made sense for multiple reasons including helping women back into the workforce.

“Since being elected to government, the Nationals have nearly doubled spending on child care support to $11 billion this year,” she said.

“That positive choice has helped women's workforce participation reach a record high of 62 per cent and the gender pay gap has fallen from more than 17 per cent under Labor to less than 14 per cent today.”

Kimberly Hone has spoken about key issues this election.

Tertiary Education

Mrs Hone said The Nationals in government committed $20 billion to universities over the coming year in the recent budget.

“Only the Nationals in Government can be trusted to ensure institutions in regional Australia like our own Southern Cross University get their fair share,” she said.

Rising Cost of Living

Mrs Hone said the family budget had likely been battered by the pandemic, border closures and maybe the floods.

“The Nationals in government understand this and have responded with tax free payments if you are on a fixed income, tax cuts if you are a low or middle earner and 22 cents off every litre of fuel you put in your car,” she said.

“It is about offering you positive choices, but opposition career politicians attacked all this as an election bribe.

“Then again, they don’t pay for their own petrol or spend much time working out what’s on special at Coles this week.”

She said as a small family business owner she knew what it was like to not know where the next dollar is coming from.

“It is why the Nationals’ new bonuses for small businesses that invest in technology, training or energy efficiency are so welcome,” she said.

Housing

Mrs Hone said the next generation of Australians should be able to buy their own home and they shouldn't be forced away from the area to make that choice.

“Natural disasters and council green tape are making this difficult, but the Nationals in government are bringing back positive choices,” she said.

“Special deals for first timers, particularly families, have helped 300,000 buy their home and a new 10,000-place Regional Home Guarantee is reserved for areas like ours.

“The Nationals in government also stopped the mass buy up of Aussie property by Chinese investors that was occurring under Labor, and only we can be trusted to keep that door shut.”

Richmond Nationals Candidate Kimberly Hone has spoken in favour of government supporting childcare.

Climate change

“Banging on about climate change fixes nothing,” Mrs Hone said.

She said the Nationals in government were building the North Coast’s largest ever rooftop solar panel array atop Byron Central Hospital.

“The 720 kilowatt system will offset 940 tonnes of carbon emission per year and save $3 million in power bills over the life of the system,” she said.

“That’s not talk, it is not an election promise, it is a positive choice made by the Nationals that start cutting emissions and power bills the second it is switched on later this year.”

Federal Independent Commission Against Corruption

Mrs Hone said her daughters expect her to stand up for their generation with respect and integrity, so naturally she stands strongly against all forms of misbehaviour by politicians.

“That includes members of parliament blatantly abusing their generous taxpayer entitlements to run expensive newspaper advertising campaigns calling their opponents names or just making stuff up, like telling pensioners the PM is going to put them on welfare cards,” she said.

“It is just plain wrong and a really negative choice by the career politicians.

“So, yes, I would certainly vote in favour of a new anti corruption body, if its remit includes looking into that sort of abuse of political power and waste of public money.”

Transgender athletes

“As a Christian, I am totally committed to treating all my fellow humans with dignity and respect,” Mrs Hone said.

She said discrimination is rightly illegal in most settings but does occur in women’s sport to protect integrity of competitions.

“As one ethics professor puts it, for trans women athletes, at issue is their athletic ability, not their womanhood,” she said.

“If a tournament organiser determines that a trans woman athlete is too good to compete against other women because of her biological advantage, excluding her does not undermine her humanity.”

Youth mental health

Mrs Hone said young locals were facing growing and unprecedented levels of stress these days.

“Their freedoms and self worth have been under attack from all sides: insidious social media, Covid lockdowns, school and border closures, natural disasters and family breakups are all taking their toll,” she said.

“To be fair, the Australian and NSW Governments are putting a lot of money into youth mental health and suicide prevention.”

She said if elected she would channel money into meaningful help for young people in Tweed, Byron and Ballina as a top priority.

Richmond Nationals Candidate Kimberly Hone with party leader Barnaby Joyce.

Cooperative leadership

Mrs Hone said the cooperation during Covid between state member Tweed Nationals MP Geoff Provest and his Labor and Green counterparts representing Murwillumbah/Lismore and Ballina/Byron proved positive choice politics is not only possible, it is popular and productive.

She said she believed this hadn’t happened at a federal level under the current member’s 18 years of incumbency.

“It is the first thing that will change if I am elected,” she said.

“I’ll be working for you regardless of who is in government or who I have to talk to in order to get things done.

“The old politics of blaming the other side and pretending to be outraged at everything just isn’t good enough anymore.

“Your kids deserve better and so do mine.”