Kerry Vincent endorsed by Liberal Party to run in Prosser

A long serving mayor has been endorsed to run for the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council seat of Prosser. See what it means for the council and Kerry Vincent’s election campaign.

Sorell Mayor Kerry Vincent at the site of the Southern Beaches Swim Centre at Dodges Ferry. Picture: Chris Kidd

The mayor of Sorell for the past 12 years, Kerry Vincent, has been endorsed to run for the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council seat of Prosser.

Mr Vincent was chosen at a meeting on Wednesday night and will take leave as mayor from Thursday.

“I’m a community junkie, I love working for the community, and I think this is the next step,” he said.

“I think the opportunity to continue to serve the region in Prosser is just a logical step for me.”

Mr Vincent said education, traffic and road infrastructure and dealing with household waste were key issues for him.

Project officer Paul Markey, Accessible Tourism Officer ParaQuad Tasmania Richard Witbreuk, Sorell Mayor Kerry Vincent with Physical Disability Sports Coordinator ParaQuad Tasmania Kevin Faulkner (in wheelchair). Picture: Supplied

“Education facilities are paramount because of the low retention rate and further education,” he said.

“I’ve been heavily involved with developing the jobs hubs for regional Tasmania, and the one down here at Sorell is probably the best in Australia and is the yard stick.

“I want to keep developing that for mature age education and re-skilling, as well as young people, because the easiest way to overcome the cost of living is to get people trained up better and into better jobs.”

Mr Vincent, who has a family agricultural merchandise business Rural Solutions, now run by his son, said his proudest achievements as mayor included getting capital expenditure into the area “after we were left behind”.

“Sorell is the heartland of the South-East and getting expenditure into the highway, the schools, the police station, the sports complexes because all those things service from Bicheno to Nubeena and everything in between,” he said.

“Another big issue I’ve been heavily involved as mayor is the waste industry because of the changes going on and I don’t think a lot of the public realise just how important it is to learn to do waste differently.

“Prosser covers large areas of farming land as well as expanding regional population centres so it is vital we have more investment to secure, reliable and affordable water for residential and irrigational purposes.

“(Former Prosser MLC) Jane Howlett proved how a strong local member in government can deliver real outcomes for the electorate.

“By contrast, an independent can only talk about problems and wait for someone else to solve them.”

Former Tasman mayor Kelly Spaulding is also having another tilt at Prosser.

“It is important to keep the upper house as independent and leave party politics to the House of Assembly,” he said.

Former Labor leader Bryan Green, former Liberal Lyons candidate Gregory Brown and retired UTAS academic Professor Pam Sharpe will also contest the May 4 election.

Originally published as Kerry Vincent endorsed by Liberal Party to run in Prosser