John Singleton vents frustrations at the lack of money and leadership on the Central Coast

John Singleton has spoken out about his frustrations for the Central Coast leading up to the federal election and what led him to release his bizarre radio ad.

Millionaire ad mogul John Singleton has revealed the reasons behind his bizarre federal election radio advertisement, saying the coast is being treated like “hicksville”.

In an exclusive interview with the Express, Mr Singleton said the ad – which advises people to vote for the opposite party compared to their 2019 vote – came about due to “frustrations” at the lack of leadership and money coming to the region.

He said the ad was also a warning to “watch out” as he plans to run candidates at the next state and federal elections, similar to what he did in 2013 when he backed two independents as part of Team Central Coast.

John Singleton, of Mount White, expressed his frustrations at the lack of money coming to the coast. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“We thought ‘let’s make a statement now’ and run candidates unless we see a significant improvement,” Mr Singleton said.

“Let’s switch it around. The most sensible thing is to keep it a marginal seat and that way we might attract more money to the area.”

Mr Singleton laughed off Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s May 11 visit with one of his election commitments including $137,000 to upgrade the Umina Beach Country Women’s Association (CWA).

“Who do you think we are … hicksville here?” Mr Singleton said.

“I support the work the CWA do but look at our roads and infrastructure. Most of Gosford and Wyong are a disgrace.

“We are talking about a government with billions and we get the few bob coming out of a poker machine bucket.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison committed $137,000 to the Umina Beach CWA during a visit to the coast on May 11. Picture: Jason Edwards

John Singleton backed independent candidates Nathan Bracken and Lawrie McKinna in the 2013 Federal Election and plans to do it again.

Mr Singleton said when he ran independent candidates, including Nathan Bracken and Lawrie McKinna, in 2013 their preferences got (Robertson federal Liberal MP) “Lucy Wicks in and almost got (Dobell federal Labor MP) Emma McBride out”.

“At the time we approached both Labor and Liberal for preferences,” he said.

“We didn’t care which one as they are both hopeless but Labor said they didn’t need us.

“This time around Lucy Wicks and Emma McBride have done nothing so you can’t preference either of them.

“It’s really out of frustration of how little is done here compared to how much is done in Western Sydney. For every dollar they spend here they spend $20 in Western Sydney. To get to Terrigal Beach you need to take 23 different roads.”

Mr Singleton pointed out the lack of action from the Liberals in recent years aside from the Australian Taxation Office in Gosford which opened up 1200 jobs.

“They did get those jobs for the coast,” he said. “But they committed a university which they dishonoured. We want our own University, not just a campus here. Central Coast Tourism also looked to get a fair share but that was dishonoured.”

Mr Singleton praised two projects – the ATO Office in Gosford and NorthConnex.

He pointed out a major positive for the coast being NorthConnex, however said it had been in the pipeline for so long that “no one in parliament or the opposition can take credit for that”.

Some of the other local issues Mr Singleton spoke of included aged care and pensioners only being able to work one day a week.

“Our own pubs and restaurants can’t get staff,” he said.

“Why shouldn’t pensioners be able to work more than one day a week if they are happy to?

“Aged care is one of our biggest problems in terms of staff and who would be more empathetic than pensioners? We could fix the aged care and hospitality problems.”

He said sporting aspirations had diminished across the region with the lack of premier AFL, cricket and rugby league sides.

In 2017, Mr Singleton also criticised the lack of “decent leadership”. Picture: Mark Scott

“Our kids are told if they are keen to pursue a sport, they need to move out of the Central Coast,” he said.

Mr Singleton has been saying for years the coast deserves “decent leadership”. He praised the work of Central Coast Council Administrator Rik Hart and chief executive officer David Farmer, saying that when the previous councillors were in he tossed up moving to Newcastle or Wollongong.

“The CEO and Administrator I have great hopes for,” he said. “Approvals are happening.

“It would be great to sack the federal and state members and put in an Administrator … get people who will do something.

“We’ve never had anyone that could remotely be the next prime minister. So our latest statement is a bit of ‘it’s too little too late’ and a warning that we are running again.”