Meet the 2022 Federal Election candidates for Newcastle
Meet the eight candidates running for the seat of Newcastle this federal election.
Newcastle
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There are eight candidates fighting for the Newcastle seat in this years federal election.
The electorate of Newcastle runs from the Hunter River and takes in the Newcastle CBD and neighbouring port district. It includes the surrounding suburbs of Merewether, Adamstown, Hamilton, Lambton, Wallsend and Waratah on the southern side of the Hunter River, as well as Stockton and industrial Kooragang Island to the north.
Meet your 2022 Newcastle candidates:
Garth Pywell, Australian Federation Party
Living in Stockrington, Garth Pywell is the representative for the Australian Federation party in this years federal election.
The chiropractor believes there is currently a lack of vision in Newcastle.
“See change is on our signs welcoming people to the city and yet this is not something often seen here, he explains.
“ The biggest issue I see facing Newcastle is the lack of leveraging industries that are already present in the region (The University, and the Newcastle Port with its infrastructure as examples) to forward plan.
Mr Pywell said Newcastle like the rest of the country was built on coal but we are no longer able to rely on that industry.
“Regardless of the environmental point of view rather than wait until their eventual closures, we need to forward plan and pivot into broadening the local economy, he said.
“This includes further focus on supporting small businesses that have been devastated during the pandemic, as well as creating opportunities for new businesses to be developed to take Newcastle into the future.”
Mr Pywell said he has been in contract with the University and Business Hunter to discuss the current strengths and potential opportunities.
“I look forward to continued consultation with these and other bodies that represent the various business and electorate groups after the election.”
Mr Pywell said the Australian Federal Party is focused on “proper and transparent representation.
“I will continue to make myself available for members of the electorate to bring forward their ideas.
“I believe that collectively we can tackle any potential problem as it arises - we just need our elected members to listen to their electorates rather than dictate to them,” he said.
Charlotte McCabe, The Greens NSW
Living in Newcastle, Charlotte McCabe is the Greens representative for Shortland in this years federal election
She is a City councillor and casual primary teacher and believes the biggest issue in her electorate is rental prices.
“Property and rent prices, lack of social and affordable housing and a lack of crisis accommodation for women who are facing family and domestic violence,” she said.
If she wins the greens candidate said she has a strong funded plan to fix the problem.
“The Greens have a plan to build one million homes across the country, with the establishment of a Federal Housing Trust, she explains.
“ Locally, this will mean 6,500 social and affordable houses for Newcastle over the next twenty years, delivering not only housing security but also a huge boost to local construction jobs.
“Of these new homes, around 800 will be new shared equity houses for first home buyers.”
Ms McCabe said to assist those saving for a home, the Greens will allow first home buyers to own up to “75% of equity in one of the homes in a shared equity with the government.
“Buyers will only need to pay $300,000 and can sell their share if they want to, back to the government,” she said.
Amanda Cook, United Australian Party
Living in Singleton for the past 20 years, Amanda Cook is the United Australian Party representative for this years federal election.
Ms cooked has worked as a primary school teacher for the past seven years and most recently took a year off to study an honours degree in psychology in order to become a school counsellor.
Since the Department of Education made the COVID vaccination mandatory for all school staff, she has not returned to teaching since completing her degree.
Sharon Claydon, Australian Labor Party
Sharon Claydon is a fifth generation Novocastrian and is this years representative for the Australian Labour Party.
Prior to entering Parliament, Ms Calydon worked as an anthropologist in remote Aboriginal communities and as a community-based disability support worker.
She believes the biggest issue facing the electorate is the lack of access to healthcare.
“Everyday Novocastrians tell me just how expensive and difficult it is to see their local GP, she explains.
“Some local clinics have wait times of up to six weeks. Over the last decade, it’s been harder and more expensive for patients to get the health care they need, when they need it.”
Ms Calydon said the Morrison Government’s changes to the doctor recruitment program in Newcastle, has made it impossible for people to see a doctor when they are unwell.
“Their recent cuts to our essential GP Access After Hours service, Labor wants to fix this problem.
“We will save our GP Access After Hours, reopen the Kaden Centre for cancer patients seeking much-needed treatment, and we will restore our much-needed doctor recruitment program in Newcastle.
“This is something I have been advocating for and I’m proud to say that Labor has a plan to get it done,” she said.
William Hussey, Informed Medical Options
Living in Newcastle, William Hussey is the Informed Medical Options Party Candidate in this years federal election.
He is a Barrister and believes the biggest issue facing his electorate is cost of living.
“Peoples shopping bills and everything else are rising rapidly, he explains
“There has been little change in wages in most sectors and the reasons for this inflation are irresponsible monetary policy through printing money and the two years of shut downs during the COVID pandemic, he said.
“There was no private sector jobs growth during these two years but there was public sector (government) jobs growth.
“Businesses went broke, people lost their jobs and it will take years to recover. Both Labor and Liberal failed in their ultimate duty to support and protect the people.”
If he wins Mr Hussey said there is one thing he wont do.
“I would not agree to any further lockdowns, I would promote business grants to start new small businesses to increase productivity.
“ I would seek to compensate all those who lost their businesses and/or employment due to the governments shut downs,”he said.
Katrina Wark, Liberal Party of Australia
Born in Waratah, Katrina Wark is the Liberal Party representative for this years federal election.
Ms Wark is a Registered Nurse and in 2017 established the Newcastle Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to support fundraising initiatives and running events in partnership with Cystic Fibrosis Australia.
As part of the Morrison Liberal Team, Ms Wark aims to improve local roads, transport, infrastructure and ensure the region has access to world class hospitals and healthcare.
Mark James Watson, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
Mark Watson is this years representative for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
Mr Watson is a chef and maintains he has a strong focus on investing in Australia’s future “with secure and affordable energy for households and business, water security for farmers, and training a skilled workforce, he explains.
“We want to build this nation with projects that improve the reliability and affordability of energy, secure water for our farmers, the hybrid Bradfield Scheme, new low-emission coal-fired power plants, and get us moving a national fast rail network. These are long-term investments in Australia and for Australians.”
Mr Watson also plans to advocate for reforming Australia’s family law and child protection system and tax reform.
“To ensure foreign-owned multinationals pay their fair share of tax and protecting the fundamental principles of Australian democracy
“We also need to have a very hard and honest look at our immigration levels. The congestion in our major cities is only getting worse and we’re in a housing crisis.
“ We need to get numbers back to sustainable levels so we’re not just playing catch up with our infrastructure spending. We need to focus on training Australians for Australian jobs, he said.”
Emily Brollo, Animal Justice Party
Living in Newcastle, Emily Brollo is the representative for the Animal Justice Party in this years federal election.
She is a midwife and believes the housing crises is the biggest issue facing the electorate, if she is successful her strategy to fix the problem would be -
“Raise Welfare Payments above the poverty line, increase both public housing and affordable housing, incentivise letting out vacant properties and provide pathways to home ownership, she said.”
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