Wentworth 2018: Your guide Steve Georgantis’s policies

THE Wentworth by-election is on this Saturday with a large field of candidates. Our complete guide is the only place to get in depth coverage of local and national policies of all 16 candidates. Here is everything you need to know about the Australian People’s Party’s Steve Georgantis and how he compares to other candidates.

Australian People’s Party candidate Steve Georgantis says it is not government’s role to fund the arts as the money is needed for more important areas like health and education.

THE Wentworth by-election is on this Saturday with a large field of candidates. Our complete guide is the only place to get in depth coverage of local and national policies of all 16 candidates. Here is everything you need to know about the Australian People’s Party’s Steve Georgantis and how he compares to other candidates.

SEE OUR INTERACTIVE DOWN BELOW

BIOGRAPHY

STEVEN Georgantis says he was born in Sydney and graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics majoring in Economics and Accounting.

He says he was employed by the Australian Taxation Office for 31 years, including time as senior technical officer and held several management positions.

Steven says he is a member of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW and volunteer at his local church.

He says be believes the major parties have let down the Australian people because they base their policies on party allegiances, ideology and self interest and are beholden to those making donations.

Steven says he has organisational and analytical skills and common sense. And says he is results focused plus he has problem solving skills which he demonstrated during his tax career.

He says he bases decisions on what is fair rather than on what he can get out of the solution. Steven says he believes because of his skills and background he can contribute to creating the best Australia for all Australians.

Q&A

1. Do you think we need a new public secondary school in the Wentworth electorate?

We support the construction of a new secondary school in Wentworth but it should not be on a main road.

2. What are your thoughts on the current rate of development?

There is too much development and the wrong focus is on housing development instead of infrastructure.

3. Do you support the proposed development in the national park at South Head?

There should be no development in any national parks including at South Head.

4. Should we make changes to negative gearing?

We need to make changes to negative gearing because it’s costing the Budget too much and being used to minimise tax by those who can afford to pay tax.

5. What are the key elements of your tax policy?

We support real tax reform to simplify the tax system, close the loopholes, ensure everyone pays their fair share of tax and bring back incentive by reducing high marginal tax rates.

6. Do you have a stance on corporate political donations?

We support the banning of all business political donations and capping donations by adult individuals to $5,000.

7. What is the most important health related issue?

The most important health related issue is the understaffing of our hospitals and retirement homes.

8. What support should be given to businesses?

We should be providing more advice to small business how to run their businesses, being efficient and competitive and assisting them find export markets.

9. What emphasis should placed on funding to the arts?

Although we should assist the arts where we can, it’s not the role of government to fund the arts as funding is needed for more important areas like health and education.

10. How should Australia proceed with regards to immigration?

We should be reducing immigration levels to more sustainable levels for five years, reduce the number of visa types available and focus on bringing migrants to fill positions we cannot fill through training of Australians.

11. Should we change how we process asylum seekers?

We should set a time limit to process asylum seekers because it’s taking far too long to process them.

12. What action should be taken with regard to climate change?

We need to stop polluting our environment but we need a proper plan that does not destroy our economy while we transition to non-polluting energy sources.

13. Do you support live animal export?

We do not support live animal exports not only because of animal cruelty but we should be processing meat here in Australia for export to satisfy countries that need animals killed in a certain way.

14. Do you think we need to tackle law and order differently?

Law and order needs to be tackled differently because judges have too much leeway and are letting off criminals, victims are made to feel they were at fault and we are not rehabilitating those criminals we can.

15. How should we continue to move towards reconciliation with indigenous people?

We think we should be focusing first and foremost on indigenous health and education.

■ Simply click on your chosen candidate’s name below or on their photograph in our interactive and all will be revealed.

Kerryn Phelps / Dave Sharma / Tim Murray / Dominic WY Kanak / Angela Vithoulkas / Tony Robinson / Steve Georgantis / Ben Forsyth / Barry Keldoulis / Andrea Leong / Deb Boyle / Robert Callanan / Sam Gunning / Licia Heath / Kay Dunne