Rory Amon: Liberals finally choose their NSW election candidate for Pittwater
NSW Election: A young lawyer and high profile member of Northern Beaches Council is the Liberal’s candidate for Pittwater.
Manly
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Rory Amon, a local councillor, who describes himself as a “strong voice” for the northern beaches, has been picked as the Liberal Party candidate for Pittwater at the March state election.
Cr Amon, a family lawyer, was endorsed by a vote of the party’s State Executive this week to run after the retirement from politics of long-term MP Rob Stokes.
He was the only Liberal to officially put his name forward for preselection after Upper House MP Natasha Maclaren-Jones, the Families and Communities Minister, withdrew from the contest in late October.
There was speculation that lawyer Claire Longley – the daughter of former Pittwater MP Jim Longley – would seek preselection, but she had issues with her party membership.
Cr Amon, 33, who has been on the council since 2017, and has strong local support in the Liberal branches, was expecting to be endorsed much sooner.
But it was delayed by a sustained bout of party infighting about having more women candidates at the March 2023 poll.
The high profile councillor said that he now looked forward to campaigning to retain the seat for the Liberals and being part of a returned Coalition Government.
He will be up against “teal” independent Jacqui Scruby, an environmental lawyer who worked in the successful campaign that saw Sophie Scamps elected in the federal seat of Mackellar in May.
But Ms Scruby will have to overcome the 21 per cent margin built up by Mr Stokes.
Cr Amon said on Thursday that “a vote for anyone but the Liberal Party is a vote for a (Chris) Minns (Labor) government”.
“The only party that has been able to deliver for the northern beaches and Pittwater is the Liberal Party,” he said.
He said the last time Labor, “and the independents”, were in power in the late 2000s, the northern beaches suffered from overdevelopment at Warriewood and Dee Why and “didn’t receive a cent in infrastructure funding”.
Cr Amon listed the “hundreds of millions of dollars” the Coalition government had spent on the northern beaches including the duplication of Mona Vale Rd; building Northern Beaches Hospital and the B-line express bus service.
“The Liberal Party is the only party that can deliver for the northern beaches,” he said.
“A Labor Government has promised more development on the northern beaches. They say we are not carrying our fair share.
“Not only are they going to overfill the northern beaches, they are not going to give any infrastructure funding at all.
“A vote for an independent, or a vote for Labor, or a vote for the Greens, is a vote for a Labor government that is going to give you no projects.”
Cr Amon also argued that the current state government was the most forward looking on climate and environmental policies such as growing renewable energy and supporting electric vehicles.
“As the Liberal Candidate for Pittwater, I’m looking forward to continuing Rob Stokes’ and
the Liberal Party’s record of delivery and continuing to provide a strong voice for the people
of Pittwater,” he said.
Cr Amon said, if elected, his priorities would be the completion of the Mona Vale Rd duplication, the upgrade of Wakehurst Parkway and the Keo-Ride bus service and fighting overdevelopment.
Mr Amon is a volunteer bush firefighter with the Davidson Rural Fire Brigade, a member of several local Chambers of Commerce, director of Pittwater Business as well as being a member of the Pittwater RSL Club and affiliate member of the Pittwater RSL Sub-
Branch.
“Locally I’ve fought to ensure accountability and transparency, improve services and manage
the council’s finances, as well as standing up against inappropriate development,” Cr Amon
said.
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