Federal election 2022 Kingsford Smith: Meet the candidates

The seat of Kingsford Smith has been held by Labor for 71 years, but that hasn’t deterred the ambition of political hopefuls who want the tables to turn. See why the competing candidates think they deserve your vote.

The seat of Kingsford Smith in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has been held by Labor since it was formed 71 years ago, in 1949.

With a current margin of 8.8 per cent comforting knowledge for the incumbent Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite, it has not deterred the hopes of other candidates who want the tables to turn.

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

Stuart Davis – The Greens NSW

Stuart Davies is The Greens' Kingsford Smith candidate

Coogee resident Stuart Davis is the second musician and environmentalist to stand for the seat in recent years, after Midnight Oil singer and former Australian Conservation Foundation president Peter Garrett held it for Labor from 2004 to 2013.

He said he put his hand up to be The Greens candidate because, as a parent and grandparent, he could not sit back any longer and “watch this beautiful planet being sacrificed to corporate greed”.

“I can’t sleep soundly while refugees languish for years in detention,” he said. “It breaks my heart that my kids have a massive HECS debt when my own uni degree was free. The Greens are the only party that takes these concerns seriously.”

Locally, he was concerned rising rents and soaring house prices were driving long-time residents out of the area. He was also deeply concerned about how close the proposed Matraville waste incinerator was to homes.

As a musician, choir director and singing tour leader, Mr Davis has led international group singing tours and run thousands of singing workshops – including for at-risk kids.

“That’s taught me a lot about working for the interests of the whole ‘tribe’ and it has highlighted for me the power of community,” he said.

“I believe that now, more than ever, we need to elect bold decision-makers who share our personal values and will represent them in Canberra … That includes policies like adding dental care into Medicare, building a million new affordable homes and raising the rate of support payments above the poverty line.”

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation – Tracy Mortimer

Tracy Mortimer of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party

Tracy Mortimer, who did not respond to the Southern Courier’s request for comment, is a Kingsford Smith local and public servant with more than 15 years experience in government policy formation. That’s according to the One Nation website, which did not provide further detail on their candidate.

Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party – Anthony Tawaf

UAP candidate Anthony Tawaf, who previously wanted to be a One Nation senator.

Since migrating to Australia from Egypt as a teenager in 1967, Mr Tawaf has lived in the Kingsford Smith electorate.

For 20 years the grandfather of four was the sole parent for his two daughters, taking care of his young family until they finished school and married.

After selling his large commercial cleaning company in 1986 he started a company for marketing and selling timeshare holidays on the Gold Coast. He kept this and his showroom until the 992 recession, at which point he was forced to fold the company down. This included his 77 staff and he attributes the economic downturn to the then-Keating Labor Government.

Later on he completed a real estate management diploma course at Western Sydney University, before starting his own real estate agency. He sold this business so he could care for his late wife in her last twelve months alive, as she suffered from an incurable disease.

He said he was now devoting all his time and expertise to win this election and “restore Australia to its former greatness”.

Liberal – Grace Tan

Grace Tan, the Liberals' Kingsford Smith candidate

Politics was an interest of Grace Tan long before she was nominated as a Liberal candidate at the Randwick council elections in 2021.

She actively campaigned for the party during the elections which led to number one on the ticket, Andrew Hay, being elected as councillor.

Outside of politics, Ms Tan said she was passionate about fitness to “get into the right mindset to deal with other challenges” and volunteers at the Sydney Children’s Hospital and the Starlight Children’s Foundation to help sick children.

She said Australia’s pandemic recovery had been world leading under the Coalition, with the unemployment rate the lowest in nearly 50 years.

“Driving a stronger economy and in particular, supporting local businesses, is critical to our future growth, and if elected, I would continue to advocate for measures that support this,” she said.

“The Morrison Government has proven its economic credentials, while also keeping our borders strong, delivering tax relief for workers and small businesses, and providing record funding for infrastructure.”

“But our recovery from the pandemic is not over, and by electing a Labor government that does not have the same track record in delivering a strong economy or critical infrastructure, we are risking our recovery.”

Locally, Ms Tan said one of the biggest challenges was managing increasing development.

She said she remembered when she came to Australia and her year 11 high school teacher said: “one day when you can vote, make sure you choose carefully, because not every country allows you to choose your government.”

Australian Labor Party – Matt Thistlethwaite

Kingsford Smith’s Labor Candidate and current MP, Matt Thistlethwaite, with his family

Incumbent MP Matt Thistlethwaite said he spends most of his spare time with his kids. He grew up surfing at Maroubra Beach, where he has been a surf lifesaver at Maroubra for 38 years, and is a regular ocean swimmer at Malabar.

“The best management course I ever did was being a patrol captain being in charge of 12 other lifesavers on rough days at Maroubra,” he said.

“I quickly learnt effective people management, risk assessment and emergency management in those situations. It’s my work as a surf lifesaver that led me into politics and I see my job as an MP as an extension of that important community work.”

If Mr Thistlethwaite is re-elected (he’s been serving since 2013), he said he will work to ease living costs, make housing more affordable and combat climate change.

He said Labor had a plan to ease cost of living pressures by making childcare cheaper, bringing down the cost of electric vehicles and electricity.

“Locally I will continue to fight against the proposed Matraville Incinerator and a cruise ship terminal in Yarra Bay as well as stop some of the ridiculous overdevelopment in our area and continue our campaign to Save Our Buses from the Liberals’ cuts,” he said.

Asked what he’s most proud of, he said he had worked hard for the community and delivered millions of dollars of upgrades to community infrastructure, including a hybrid operating suite at the Prince of Wales Hospital, a trade training centre for school-based apprenticeships, and capital upgrades for local sporting and welfare organisations.

Originally published as Federal election 2022 Kingsford Smith: Meet the candidates