Hobart alderman John Kelly to run for Hobart in Legislative Council
A prominent businessman and alderman has decided to take a tilt at an Upper House seat. Find out who and why he thinks he is the person for the job.
Tasmania
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Hobart alderman and businessman John Kelly will stand for the seat of Hobart in the Legislative Council saying parliament is too full of “career politicians” and the Upper House must remain independent.
Mr Kelly, who narrowly missed out on becoming lord mayor at the 2022 local government elections, said he had never been a member of a political party and his 35 years self-employed in business would bring a broader perspective to the upper house.
“Voters need to ask themselves ‘do they want the independence of the Upper House?’ because without that, if it’s going to end up being a mirror of the House of Assembly or the lower house, what is the point?” Mr Kelly said.
“It defeats the whole foundational premise of why the Legislative Council came into existence – to review.
“You cannot have a house of review that is in direct political alignment with the Lower House. It’s as simple as that. It’s not rocket science.”
The former owner of the State Cinema he currently owns and is restoring the historic Hope and Anchor Hotel in Hobart.
Mr Kelly, a former Hobart Citizen of the Year says he would bring his broad life experiences to the Upper House.
“We need a greater blend of minds in parliament,” he said.
“It’s fine to have career politicians in there, but when the houses are pretty much full of them, you know, we don’t bring the broad perspective of the society into that.
“I’ve been self-employed in private enterprise for the last 35 years and local government now, so I would bring a breadth of experience to the chamber which would be a good thing to have that diversity in there.
“As a true independent, non politically aligned candidate I uniquely bring experience that covers not only dedication to my community but also real life experience of the business world.”
Nominations for the Legislative Council seats of Hobart, Elwick and Prosser close at noon on Thursday with the elections on May 4.
Originally published as Hobart alderman John Kelly to run for Hobart in Legislative Council
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