Pembroke Labor MLC Jo Siejka to fight for Upper House seat in May

LABOR and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmer are the only parties who have so far committed to running candidates in Pembroke in the upcoming Upper House elections.

LABOR and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers are the only parties who have so far committed to running candidates in Pembroke in the upcoming Upper House elections.

The Liberals have previously said they would “look strongly” at endorsing a candidate in the seat, which runs along the shoreline from Tranmere to Geilston Bay, takes in Howrah and Mornington to the east, and has been held by Opposition MLC Jo Siejka since November 2017.

Several people who have previously run in the seat have ruled out putting their hand up again.

This included Clarence Council mayor Doug Chipman, Clarence alderman Richard James, Hobart City Council councillor Bill Harvey and veteran candidate Hans Willink.

Mr Willink joked: “I think I’ve discovered the more people get to know me, the less they appear to like me.

“I figured it’s expensive, I think I’ve done my dash.”

Clarence alderman and former Rumney independent MLC Tony Mulder said he was “not ruling it out”.

The 2017 Pembroke by-election was triggered after Liberal MLC Vanessa Goodwin fell ill and resigned. She died in March last year.

Former Youth Network of Tasmania chief executive Ms Siejka claimed victory in the poll after a stoush between the Liberals and Alderman Chipman over the Clarence mayor’s age.

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Liberal state president Sam McQuestin and former Liberal candidate James Walker could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

Jo Siejka, MLC for Pembroke, campaigning in Bellerive. Picture: FIONA HARDING

Ms Siejka, who has been re-endorsed for the seat, said she had been doorknocking in her spare time since winning Pembroke and that she was taking nothing for granted.

She said she had been saddened by “really difficult and really heartbreaking” stories of people struggling with cost of living expenses.

“You think you know your community really well, I think everyone thinks they do,” the former Youth Network of Tasmania chief executive said.

“But when you’re an elected member you have the opportunity to go to so many more events and meet so many more groups than you would usually.”

Carlo Di Falco said he would seek preselection to run for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party again.

He was interested in improving access to mental and preventative health services, as well as better representing rural voters and working to open access to protected wilderness areas, he said.

Elections for Pembroke, Nelson and Montgomery will be held in May. Long-serving Nelson independent MLC Jim Wilkinson will retire at the next election while Montgomery Liberal MLC Leonie Hiscutt will renominate for her seat.

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