Federal election 2022 Wentworth: Meet the candidates
Sydney’s eastern suburbs is home to one of the tightest political races in the country, with candidates fiercely campaigning on hot button issues such as climate change and cost of living. Meet the Wentworth candidates vowing for your vote.
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Wentworth is the federal electorate covering some of the wealthiest suburbs in Sydney, if not Australia, where candidates hold no shortage of divisive policies in one of the tightest political races of the upcoming election.
Sitting Liberal MP Dave Sharma holds the seat by a margin of a mere 1.3 per cent, narrowly defeating independent candidate Kerryn Phelps in 2019.
In such a tight race, it is crucial voters understand who they can vote for and exactly what they stand for. So, let’s meet the candidates, in ballot order.
Tim Murray – Labor
Labor’s Tim Murray worked for Austrade in the Australian Embassy in Beijing before joining Foster’s Brewing Group and becoming sales manager in Shanghai and North China. He then started a media company in China and sold it to a Swiss multinational Ringier and ran their operations in China for a decade, before starting a financial services business operating in China, the USA and Australia.
Mr Murray said living in China made him value Australia’s democracy and he joined the Labor Party on his return down under. He said he had been working for the community since returning 10 years ago, as a surf lifesaver and now as a councillor on Waverley Council.
The politician promised to work with the community on tackling climate change, but said only Labor could form a government to make lasting change.
“Labor has done that before with Medicare and free education,” he said. “An Albanese Labor government will bring the whole country together to solve this problem. Action on climate change has been a swinging pendulum in Australian politics. That needs to stop.”
Mr Murray said climate change action must become a permanent part of the political culture that no conservative government can erase.
When it comes to cost of living pressure facing families, Mr Murray said Labor’s childcare and education policies would help relieve it.
“Wentworth voters want a national Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure integrity in politics. Labor will legislate for that commission,” he said.
“Australians want a growing economy and the best opportunity to participate in that growth. Labor education policies, like free TAFE, will provide that opportunity. We all want good health and a job.”
Dean Fisher – One Nation
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party made a last minute declaration of Dean Fisher as their Wentworth candidate. He has been contacted for comment.
Dominic WY Kanak – The Greens
It was the many injustices witnessed by Greens Wentworth candidate Dominic WY Kanak, which inspired him to join politics. The Torres Strait/South Sea islander has been a councillor for the boondiboondi Bondi Ward of Waverley Council since 1999.
Born on Yuwibara Country near Mackay, Queensland, Mr Kanak is a grandfather to a Murri and Yorta Yorta family.
Having advocated for native title law, reconciliation and First Nations political education, Mr Kanak is the NSW Local Government Aboriginal Network president and has a history working in film and television, as well as for United Nations programs.
“I have always been active in the community, in support of social justice and against corruption in politics and government,” Mr Kanak said.
“I want to be able to take that local community voice to the federal parliament. I am proud The Greens are not corrupted by corporate donations and can speak to the truth of issues in the best interests of everyday people.”
Mr Kanak said The Greens were the strongest advocates on issues important to Wentworth voters, including urgent action on climate change and a federal ICAC. His party, he said, had taken the lead on the climate crisis and marriage equality “before they became mainstream”.
The political hopeful said Wentworth voters want an end to the “punitive treatment” of asylum seekers and for Australia to once again “be a good global citizen”.
“I want to see a new public high school built in the eastern suburbs,” he said. “Australians no longer feel that major party politicians represent them, leading to disengagement from the political process. This creates fertile ground for extremist populist and anti-democratic movements. We need to rebuild trust in the integrity of our democratic system of government.”
Natalie Dumer – United Australia Party
United Australia Party’s Wentworth candidate Natalie Dumer has been a practising dentist for 27 years, in south Sydney and the eastern suburbs. She has lived in the Wentworth electorate since arriving in Sydney as a seven-year-old in the late 1970s.
While passionate about improving people’s smiles through dentistry, what was more pressing to Ms Dumer was the concern she felt for her teenage daughter during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“She and her friends rarely left their beds and had minimal human contact outside their homes,” she said. “The mental health of the Australian people was suffering.”
She said she was lucky enough to not know anyone who had died by suicide before the pandemic but now knew three people, due to ongoing lockdowns.
“The current waiting lists to obtain an appointment for a teen into a psychologist or councillor can be up to six month, that is astronomical and we need to look closely at what mental health issues have been created and ensure that this never happens again,” she said.
“I knew that I could not sit back and leave the legacy of what our country is becoming to the next generations.”
She said the seasoned politicians were out of touch and had forgotten the people they work for: Australians.
Ms Dumer said the most pressing issue facing the people of Wentworth was cost of living rises.
“We have the potential of losing our homes due to the imminent rise in interest rates, and homeowners will experience mortgage distress and potential foreclosures, a disaster we need to mitigate by freezing home loans at three per cent for five years,” she said.
“Our youths are in debt the second they leave university and the dream of owning a home becomes a difficulty. We will get rid of HECS to allow the youth to start their careers on the right foot. Provisional tax is a difficulty present in small businesses. Its abolition will ensure the survival of small business allowing them to use their hard earned money until the end of the financial year.”
Ms Dumer called herself an Australian patriot and said she would like future generations not be punished by the governments of today.
Allegra Spender – Independent
A busy Allegra Spender, perhaps incumbent Liberal MP Dave Sharma’s biggest competitor, spent the past 12 years running businesses. She was most recently CEO of a network of low-socio economic schools and major companies called the Australian Business Community Network, and before that she was the managing director of her mother’s fashion design empire, Carla Zampatti.
Late last year she was approached by Wentworth Independents and asked if she would consider standing as an independent.
“I thought this election was so important – for our climate, for our economy, and for the sake of good government -so I decided to stand up,” she said.
“Watching how Australia conducted itself at COP26 was really the final straw for me. Seeing Australia show up to a climate conference celebrating fossil fuels, and watching our allies criticise us for it, really rammed home for me that this government just didn‘t get it on climate change.”
Another important issue for Ms Spender was the fact neither party had shown leadership when it comes to the fair treatment of women in parliament.
While conceding the federal government handled some parts of the Covid-19 economic recovery well, they failed to prepare the economy for the future.
“Some local businesses have told me they have had to close their doors at times because of staff shortages – we should look at working visas to make sure our local businesses can keep their doors open, particularly after the past couple of years,” she said.
Other priorities for Spender included more preventive health measures, a second public high school in Wentworth, restoring funding to the ABC and SBS and treating the LGBTQI+ community with respect.
Ms Spender said people in Wentworth also speak to her about cost of living pressures and housing affordability, adding: “There are no easy answers, but the solution has to start with housing supply”.
Daniel Lewkovitz – Liberal Democrats
Three decades of security and risk management work for Liberal Democrats Wentworth candidate Daniel Lewkovitz has involved government, high risk groups and terrorism targets.
About ten years ago, Mr Lewkovitz founded a security and life safety monitoring business which grew from a single customer to several billion dollars in assets. Despite enjoying this success, Mr Lewkovitz felt increasingly frustrated by the lack of talent in both major political parties.
“People who‘ve never run a business or worked in a business are now telling everyone else how to run theirs,” he said.
“I have watched in dismay as Australia’s freedoms have been progressively eroded and decided I can either rock the boat or go down with it. For too often voters have been forced to vote for the ‘least worst’ option.”
Mr Lewkovitz said The Liberal Democrats provided a genuine third option to the major parties after years of inept political leadership, with their Freedom Manifesto setting out how the country can be saved.
“If you believed push-polling and left wing media, you‘d be convinced that people sit around the dinner table all night discussing climate change,” he said.
“I simply don’t believe that. Australia is sliding further backwards. Our education system has failed. Our manufacturing sector has vanished. Politicians of all stripes believe that subsidies are the answer to every problem without ever considering where money comes from.”
The cost of living in Wentworth is already unbearable for many, Mr Lewkovitz said, while both major parties as well as the Climate 200 Independents push for net zero policies and wind farms “which will make billionaires a fortune but only make things more expensive for ordinary Australians”.
“Not everybody in Wentworth is the heiress to a family fortune,” he said.
“Moreover, there is a big world outside of Wentworth, and it frustrates me that we have single issue candidates advocating energy policies which will only make life even harder for Australians in greater Sydney who don‘t have the luxury of big homes or inheritances. It’s this small picture thinking that has infected our politics.”
Mr Lewkovitz said voters should know he and his party are committed to less government, lower taxes and more freedom.
“I am experienced with small business, security, defence and leadership”.
Dave Sharma – Liberal
Despite only holding onto his seat by an inch, incumbent Wentworth MP Dave Sharma believes his “track record” has shown he is a strong voice for Wentworth. He pointed to improving community infrastructure, boosting electric vehicle charging stations, and standing up for the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community.
“And in these economically uncertain and dangerous strategic times, I am part of an experienced and competent team that can help Australia navigate the challenges ahead,” he said.
Mr Sharma said he was proud of his government which had steered the country through a global pandemic by: helping business and families access support payments, checking in on the elderly and isolated, helping locals reunite with loved ones overseas, fighting for the creative and travel industries, and ensuring domestic violence support organisations and mental health services were resourced.
“And I am proud of my advocacy for more ambitious action on climate change,” he said.
“As a result, our government has adopted a net zero by 2050 target and is providing record funding to clean energy and renewables.”
Among Mr Sharma’s priorities heading into the election are a strong post-Covid economic recovery, addressing cost-of-living pressures, inflation, and workforce shortages and safeguarding and protecting Australia through improved national security “in these more uncertain and dangerous global times”.
The local challenges he vowed to tackle include losing green open spaces, overdevelopment, transport issues and high living costs.
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Originally published as Federal election 2022 Wentworth: Meet the candidates
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