NSW Election 2019: Gosford candidate profile
We’ve thrown the spotlight on the major issues facing the coast’s most southern electorate and in their own words, let the candidates make a play for your vote.
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Dredging Ettalong channel, transport reliability, commuting and the Gosford revitalisation project are among the biggest issues for the constituents of the Gosford electorate.
The coast’s most southern electorate is held by the ALP’s Liesl Tesch, a former Paralympian and schoolteacher.
Ms Tesch, who holds the seat on a margin of 12.5 per cent since a 2017 by-election, is unlikely to be seriously challenged for the seat.
But, a late play for the votes of the coast’s commuter army, with fast rail commitments, may help Liberal candidate Sue Dengate, a commercial diver, claw back that margin.
Ms Dengate has also benefited from recent NSW government commitments to improve the Bouddi coastal walk, rebuild Woy Woy wharf and study the Pearl Beach lagoon.
The ALP recently partnered with federal Labor to commit to a palliative care hospice on the coast. State Labor would provide the land for the hospice, and ongoing staff and resources.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
HILLARY MORRIS, THE GREENS
I am standing because I believe change is vital. I love Gosford and want to see it thrive. The current State Government has spent the last eight years amalgamating our councils, selling public assets, removing protections from consumers and the environment and have done nothing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
We are changing our climate with carbon emissions from fossil fuels long after it is clear that we don’t need to. It’s time we invested in clean, reliable, renewable energy. Renewable energy will create new jobs and generate long term employment. I want to make your power both affordable and clean.
I’m standing because you should have the first and the final say on what gets planned and what gets built in your area. Gosford should not have to compete with other regions for funding and meaningful attention from the state government. Our schools should not have to continually fundraise to meet basic needs of students. I am standing because we need to have useful public transport links that work for all of us.
I am standing because I want your voice to matter again and I want a future for all of us.
PATRICK MURPHY, ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY
Patrick Murphy is standing as a candidate for the Animal Justice Party because he believes animal laws are ineffective and that means animals deserve representation in our parliament to change those laws.
Changes he would like to see happen are:
• Protect bushland from having 1080 poison dropped indiscriminately in it.
Targeted shooting has never been a successful method reducing the numbers of ‘pest’ species. The solution is to stop the commercial and domestic breeding of cats and dogs until the pounds are empty; and to use a catch and immunosterilisation method to reduce and control numbers.
• Protect the ocean and marine life from seismic testing and the pollution caused by fishing.
There is a very real possibility that we may never see a whale along the east coast of Australia again if seismic testing is approved
• Ban animals in circuses
He stresses, that he is not against circuses, but is opposed to animals being used as entertainment in them.”
• Stop the NSW government giving $762,000 to upgrade the Gosford greyhound racetrack.
The barbaric practices of live baiting, cruel wastage and high rates of injury in the greyhound racing industry must end. The government providing funding to the greyhound industry will not reduce it. This taxpayer money, being used to prop up an unsustainable, unethical industry must not be given to them.
SUE DENGATE, LIBERAL
I have lived on the Central Coast for over 45 years, at Umina for 27 and I’m currently a diving instructor in our beloved waterways.
As a foundation member of the Peninsula Waterways Committee, I want to ensure that the Ettalong Channel remains open for tourism and small business flourishes. So far the NSW Liberal Government has provided $660,000 for emergency dredging to clear the channel and a further $1,225,000 to ensure it stays open.
I will continue to work to get funding for more parking in both Gosford and Woy Woy. I will work with the council setting priorities based on community expectations and help source funding for roads, footpaths and drainage on the Peninsula. The NSW Liberals have spent $4 billion on 2100 roads projects across the Central Coast and Hunter since coming to Government 2011. We’re getting on with the job, but there’s still more to do.
For the ageing population on the Peninsula, I will work with a re-elected Liberal government and local aged care facilities to ensure our elderly community members are safe from harm and the scourge of elder abuse.
I’ll also work hand-in-hand with community groups and the government to champion initiatives to reduce homelessness and those which put at-risk young people back on the right track. If elected, I vow to be a strong voice for the residents of Gosford.
LARRY FREEMAN, SHOOTERS, FISHERS AND FARMERS
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate for Gosford.
Both of the major parties have taken turns running NSW for many years.
Many would agree they have made a real mess of things.
Just ask yourself if are you happy with the sale of your public assets, outsourcing of public services, lack of Police and Nurses and the ever increasing cost of power.
You will see the same old promises and chequebook waving you have seen at previous elections but don’t fall for it.
The Gosford electorate has been let down by successive governments time and again.
Let’s look back at the previous By-Election- Gosford Performing Arts Centre (Still Nothing), Woy Woy Rail Underpass (Not a word), Full Service NSW office in Woy Woy (Still a kiosk) and Clearing the Ettalong Channel (A Band Aid fix at best).
The people of Gosford have a great opportunity this election to change the way this state is run by electing a representative who isn’t subject to the whims of a Sydney based party room.
If elected as the representative for Gosford I will hold the balance of power in the Lower House putting me in a very strong position to insist on our fair share.
JUDY SINGER, SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA
We know it’s going to be very hard for our minor party to change the status quo in Gosford. We don’t have the big election budgets and army of workers manning polling booths. We are simply asking people to vote for change and make Gosford a force to be reckoned with in state parliament. Gosford has been swinging back and forth between Liberal and Labor control since 1950.
Our proximity to Sydney means thousands of families are moving into our region and commuting long distances to work. Where are the plans from the major parties for the necessary infrastructure such as roads, transport, schools, hospitals and housing that we need to cope with more people?
Politicians who rarely visit our region are dictating to us what our future should look like. They make us promises when an election rolls around but when the campaigning is over, and the cameras are switched off we are once again left with our congested roads, overcrowded old trains and substandard housing.
The Sustainable Australia Party is an independent, common- sense party from the centre of politics. We are not puppets of big business or a single-issue party.
Our goals are simple and achievable. They include ensuring better planning to stop overdevelopment, returning real planning power to our local community, delivering infrastructure before more housing and to make common sense decisions that benefit ordinary citizens and enhance our way of life not erode it.
Hopefully enough people will agree that the people of Gosford deserve a change for the better and get on board and vote for us at this election.
LIESL TESCH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
I’m passionate about the coast. It’s my home, I love it, and I work every day to make it an even better place to live for all.
In two years I have delivered more than $727,000 worth of community infrastructure to improve our local amenities.
If re-elected, I will work with a Daley Labor Government to make sure we finally get our fair share — we’ve been forgotten by the Sydney-centric Liberals for the last 8 years.
Labor will deliver $5 million for dredging Ettalong Channel. It’s time for the blame game to end.
Cost of living pressures are hurting locals, that’s why Labor will make public transport free for children on the Opal Network, re-regulate the energy market to cut prices, deliver more green spaces, and mandate affordable housing targets so families can still afford to live locally.
NSW Labor knows overdevelopment affects communities.
That’s why we will stop developers bypassing local councils by abolishing the rezoning review process that has undermined community decisions reflected in an LEP.
I’ve fought for our community against a Liberal Government that just doesn’t care about us.
We need a Labor Government to put people first.
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