Federal election 2022: Meet the candidates for Berowra

The seat of Berowra has never had a representative who did not belong to the Liberal Party, but that hasn’t deterred the ambitions of political hopefuls who want to see change. Meet the candidates vying for your vote.

The seat of Berowra in Sydney’s upper north shore has been held by the Liberal Party since it was formed in 1969.

But the current margin of 15.7 per cent favouring incumbent Liberal MP Julian Leeser has not deterred the hopes of other candidates who want to have a shot at this seat deep in Sydney’s Liberal heartland.

Let’s compare their visions, goals and priorities for their electorate.

Nicholas Samios — Liberal Democrats

Nicholas Samios

Berowra resident Nicholas Samios is a father of three who has spent the past 12 years running his own business.

“The voters in this electorate are very conservative,” Mr Samios told The Hornsby Advocate.

“We are a safe Liberal seat, but you would be surprised how many of our supporters are disaffected conservatives”.

Mr Samios put this largely down to the state of the economy and said many Berowra residents had been echoing his concerns while he’s been out campaigning.

“One thing people are telling me as they come out of the shops here is they are worried about inflation,” he said. “Inflation is here and they know it’s going to get worse. They see it at the petrol bowser of course, but shopper dockets are becoming ‘shocker dockets’ – as one shopper said to me – to be sure.”

Samios said one of the reasons he put his hand up to be the Liberal Democrats candidate was because the party wanted to treat the symptoms of inflation as well as the underlying causes.

The political hopeful also has plans for two other hot topics: he believes we can achieve cheaper electricity by lifting the ban on nuclear energy and has plans for tackling corruption in politics.

“If politicians commit crimes, we have the police. If the behave unethically or contrary to the will of the people, we have a policy for ‘Recall Elections’ as they have in the USA,” Mr Samios said.

“It is one of (the Liberal Democrats) ten Freedom Manifesto policies and provides a democratic process for turfing out bad leaders ahead of the next election.”

Christopher Martinic — United Australia Party

Christopher Martinic

Cherrybrook resident Christopher Martinic, who holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University of NSW, said it wasn’t “political ambition” which pulled him out from “obscurity” but rather the “controversial science” behind vaccines and “Orwellian” Covid mandates.

Mr Martinic believed Australia’s Covid public health policy “ignored data and risk” but he finds the “extraordinary stifling of any debate coupled with censorship” even more concerning.

“The ‘linking of arms’ between all forms of mainstream media and social platforms to largely promote a unqualified medical therapy which resulted in a program of economically and socially coercive lock downs and mandates was to me ‘Orwellian’,” Mr Martinic said.

Mr Martinic also says the Covid lockdowns and “hijacking of free speech” reminded him of the totalitarianism his parents left behind when they fled Yugoslavia.

He believes the United Australia Party is the only party which can tackle the economic, medical and social issues Australia is currently facing.

“The current nationwide state-and-federal government shadows over our nation (Liberal, Labor ably assisted by their ’fanbois’ the Greens) over education, health, places of worship and other normal organs of society will persist for years,” Mr Martinic said.

Benson Koschinski — Labor

Benson Koschinski

Benson Koschinski has lived in the electorate of Berowra since childhood and graduated from Pennant Hills High School in 2013.

As a child, Mr Koschinski was fascinated with nature and science but the more he learned about the natural world, the more concerned be became about climate change.

This concern for the planet’s future propelled Mr Koschinski into politics — in high school he joined the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, which was an organisation of young Australians using their collective power to demand action on climate change from politicians and corporations. He believes the Labor Party is best equipped to tackle climate change.

“It has been the Labor Party, representing the interests of working Australians, that has implemented the most transformative changes in Australia’s economy and society,” he said.

Koschinski told The Hornsby Advocate the issues facing Australia today were far-ranging and complex.

“As a nation that is more exposed to the risks of climate change than any other, taking action on climate change must be Australia’s top priority – starting with upgrading our electricity grid to increase our renewable energy capacity,” he said.

“The government must also act to protect the pay and conditions of workers, respond to the crisis in aged care, establish a national anti-corruption commission and invest in critical infrastructure like the NBN and high speed rail.”

Tania Salitra — The Greens

Tania Salitra

Current Hornsby Shire councillor Tania Salitra is The Greens’ candidate for Berowra. She did not respond to The Hornsby Advocate’s request for comment.

According to the candidate’s website, she is a born and bred Sydney local with a background in Australian manufacturing management.

On her website, Ms Salitra lists her policy priorities as tackling climate change, ensuring billionaires pay their fair share of tax, delivering free tertiary education and improving Australia’s manufacturing base.

Rhiannon Bosma — Pauline Hanson’s One Nation

Rhiannon Bosma

Rhiannon Bosma, who did not respond to The Hornsby Advocate’s request for comment, is a Berowra local who, as a child, was part of the Glenorie Pony club.

On the candidate’s website, she said Covid mandates were what propelled her to put up her hand for federal politics.

“The lockdowns did absolutely nothing to stop Covid, all they did was delay it and rob small businesses of income and staff, and cost locals their livelihood,” Ms Bosma stated on her website.

“No vaccinations particularly while still in trial periods should be mandated, these should be optional for people who choose them”.

On her website, she states these reasons are why she’s backing Pauline Hanson’s call for a broad royal commission into Australia’s Covid response.

Julian Leeser — Liberal

Julian Leeser MP

Incumbent Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who has been the federal member for Berowra since 2016, lives in Thornleigh with his wife, Joanna, and their children.

Mr Leeser says he has been “a vocal advocate” for his community throughout his time in office.

“Locally we have delivered NorthConnex which has taken 6000 trucks off Pennant Hills Rd each day making journeys quicker and safer,” he said. “We are upgrading infrastructure including at Greenway Park and Pennant Hills Park. And through the government’s $1.3 billion telecommunications fund we are delivering more funding for telco infrastructure in communities like ours, including three new mobile towers in our community.”

Mr Leeser said the Liberal Party was committed to helping all Australians with the cost of living by creating jobs, investing in small business and ensuring young people get the skills they need.

“We are (also) committed to the largest peacetime increase to the defence workforce to ensure we are ready to face emerging threats,” Mr Leeser said.

Other candidates

The following independents and candidates belonging to minor parties did not respond to The Hornsby Advocate’s request for comment. These candidates are:

David James Louie, Australian Federation Party.

Brendan Michael Clarke, FUSION.

Roger Woodward, Independent.

Benjamin Caswell, Independent.