Meet the candidates vying for the seat of Swansea (in ballot paper order).
LUKE CUBIS (CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY)
I am married to my wife Kylie and we have a 10 month old son Joshua.
I recently left the education sector having worked as a teacher locally for nine years. I have a Bachelor Teaching/Bachelor Arts double degree and a Master of Education degree. I currently work as a Guest Services Officer for Charlestown Square. I live in Lake Macquarie and I was born and bred in this region.
I will make a difference in Swansea by supporting small business and fighting to keep Aussie industry and jobs in Australia and in our electorate. I am committed to protecting and enhancing our Australian way of life by protecting the rights and values that our democracy was founded on. As a former teacher I know that we also need increased funding for the Education sector and I will be doing everything in my power to ensure this happens. I will be an advocate for families in the Swansea electorate. We want to make our streets safe. I want to tighten laws for criminal and terrorist activity so our families can live safely and freely.
JOHANNA UIDAM (LIBERAL PARTY)
I have worked as a nurse at Newcastle hospital and I currently work for our family owned business. I am a mother of two adult children and I am happily married. My two children attended Belmont Christian College and later graduated from Newcastle University.Lake Macquarie has been my home since 1998, but my link to the area goes back to the sixties as a frequent holiday destination. It is a great place but it can be even better!
If elected I will achieve for Swansea:
· Greater Police presence to live peacefully together.
· Address the local sea level policy so people in low lying areas can improve their homes and maintain the land value.
· Improve access to essential services through better transport.
· Improve education with more front line teachers and improved school infrastructure.
· Improved health with more funds for front line nurses and doctors and better facilities.
· Keep N.S.W. working help create 100,000 more jobs.
I truly want to make a real difference in the community, I am Swansea’s biggest advocate and I believe the Liberal party under Mike Baird’s leadership has the right agenda to drive positive change.
JOSH AGLAND (ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY)
I’m a local residing in Nords Wharf; I come from a diverse background where I have personally witnessed the good and bad of the human and non-human animal co-existence. I truly believe in the notion of equality for all beings across all species and dream of a world where the strong protect the vulnerable and compassion is at the forefront of our lives. I have an unwavering commitment to compassion and believe we must practice it, teach it and promote it as people and as a society.
Speaking with members of the community has been a positive reinforcement that the community wants a party for animals and recognises that animals have a rightful place in our society. I will campaign to ban puppy farms, end the cruel greyhound industry, promote better education programs and fight to give the police more powers to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty cases. Locally I want to see better infrastructure in regards to the disabled, elderly and those with mobility issues. I will perform strict scrutiny over all developments be it residential, commercial or industrial to ensure that all members of the community including our precious wildlife are protected and that the character of individual suburbs are recognised and maintained.
CHRIS OSBORNE (INDEPENDENT)
PAUL DOUGHTY (NO LAND TAX) GARRY EDWARDS (INDEPENDENT)
My vision for the Swansea electorate is to build on the achievements that I have delivered on during the last four years and continue working towards raising the profile of Swansea as the gateway to Lake Macquarie. This area has so much potential to grow and prosper into the future as a major tourist destination as we are blessed to live between Lake Macquarie and our pristine coastline.
If I am given the opportunity to continue representing the Swansea electorate as a Member of Parliament, my focus will be to lobby for the establishment of palliative care facilities within the electorate, continue to improve local roads and infrastructure and represent the interests of small business owners, who are the major employers within our communities.
I will fight to secure funding to ensure the Swansea Channel remains navigable into the future, lobby on behalf of our volunteer emergency service organisations to ensure they are fully funded and resourced and continue to work closely with our police to keep this wonderful community safe. Public safety is one of this electorate’s major issues and it will be a pleasure to see the completion of the Lake Macquarie Local Area Command Headquarters at Belmont later this year. Our communities will certainly benefit from increased police presence and response times. It will be an honour to continue fighting for the Swansea electorate’s fair share.
YASMIN CATLEY (LABOR PARTY)
I have firsthand experience in seeing how good government policy can have a positive impact on people’s lives. I want to be a representative in the NSW Parliament to implement policies which will benefit the people of Swansea and NSW more broadly. I joined the Labor Party over 25 years ago because it was the party most closely aligned with my own values of fairness, justice and equality and these values underpin my own and Labor’s priorities – health, education and jobs.
The Swansea electorate is a diverse community with differing needs, but ultimately, people living in the electorate of Swansea need strong leadership to deliver results. I will be providing that.
My priorities for Swansea are:
•- Keeping our electricity network in public hands;
•- Protecting public health and delivering better health services to ensure equal access for everyone and to support our nurses and doctors;
•- A fairer education system – fighting to save TAFE and for the full implementation of the Gonski reforms;
•- Protecting local jobs for local workers. This includes supporting local industries to provide jobs into the future.
I will be a strong local voice for Swansea.
PHILLIPA PARSONS (THE GREENS)
http://nsw.greens.org.au/candidates/all
