Noosa residents packed into Villa Noosa Hotel last Thursday to hear from local candidates in the State Election at a forum organised by Australian Independent Retirees (AIR) Noosa.
Present at the event were incumbents, Independent Noosa MP Sandy Bolton and LNP Ninderry MP Dan Purdie, candidates for Noosa Mark Denham, (ALP), Clare Stewart (LNP), Rhonda Prescott (Queensland Greens) and Ninderry candidate Jo Justo (ALP). Here are the presentations from the Noosa incumbent and candidates.
Mark Denham (ALP): I’ve lived in Noosa for 35 years. I’m a paramedic, I’ve been one for 45 years. I’m heading to retirement. I’m probably going to be a self-funded retiree myself. I’ve set it up that way because, like you, we’ve worked really hard to get what we’ve got and we want to keep that and we want to make it go further. You guys looked at the future, looked at where you want to be, looked at where you wanted to live so you can live a long and prosperous life. When I came into my career the average lifespan was around 60s and 70s, now it’s around 80s and 90s. That’s because of the health care system we have, better medicine, local to your home, gives you capacity to be treated for all the diseases you might have and live a long and prosperous life. Some of the biggest concerns for you are rising prices. How are we going to fix that? We’re putting in renewable energy, keeping our assets so we can pass on our assets to you. Pumped hydro in this area is one of the initiatives, with wind turbines, solar power will reduce the cost and production of power which we can relay to you so it does get cheaper. You would have gotten the $1000 power rebate and another $300 if you’re a pensioner. It was a great initiative for you. Another issue is stamp duty. Downsizing is a positive step in retirement. We’re looking after that for you. Another issue is electric mobile devices that are around. That needs to be worked on at a community level with the police and other services to make sure people are educated on the safety realm and what’s appropriate and not appropriate. Hospitals, ramping is a big issue. That can’t be fixed by just fixing the ambulance, it’s a whole health issue.
Rhonda Prescott (The Greens): I was told the demographic is over 50 and retired or part retired. I fit into that demographic but I also work part time. As well as working part time I volunteer for a number of community organisations – Noosa bush care, Zero Emissions Noosa, Noosa First Nations Allies, Cooroy tennis club, Forest Star community newsletter and Making Lives Matter. I hope I can correct some of the misconceptions and fear you might have relating to The Greens. We want to increase the taxes and royalties paid by giant mining corporations and we want to use that money to fund the kind of services you need including health services, hospitals and aged care. The Greens are much more than a political party. We are part of a global movement towards ecological sustainability, social justice, peace and democracy. For democracy to work there must be people like us, candidates, who are willing to have the courage of their convictions to stick their neck out and nominate so you, the voters, have a choice for who you vote for, and it’s the responsibility of voters to educate themselves about the candidates and the choices that they offer. It is my strong belief in the democratic system and The Greens that I am standing as your Greens candidate in this election. Even though, realistically, I have very little chance of actually becoming elected I want to give people the opportunity to vote Green. This will not be a wasted vote. A preferential voting system applies in the state election so if the candidate who is number one on your ballot paper is not in the top two, your vote is redistributed to your second choice. So think carefully about your preferences.
People say we are crazy. In 2017 we proposed $1 public transport, in 2020 we proposed free public transport. They said that was impossible yet here we are in 2024 with 50 cent fares and this is working, getting cars off the roads and people on buses and trains. The catch with fares the 80-90m revenue that it generates is approximately equal to the annual ticketing system so let’s just make it free and perhaps we won’t have to spend so much on building and maintaining roads.
I was born in NZ, my parents were shearers, fences and drovers. My mother always worked alongside my father. From a very early age I was left in charge of the household with younger sisters, chooks, pigs and dogs while they were away working, often weeks at a time. I took a position in Bank of New Zealand, started studying accounting, became qualified accountant, migrated to Australia almost 40 years ago, obtained a masters of commerce qualification, am member of institute of public accountants, at one stage was certified as financial planner so I know a little bit about managing portfolios.
Clare Stewart (LNP): Many of you may know me as Mayor Clare. I had privilege of being your mayor for four years and the question I get asked most is why did you make the transition to state? The answer to that is simple and two-fold. We desperately need to change the state government and to do that we need to win seats. We need to win 14 seats and we need to win Noosa. The second reason is that some of the issues being brought to me when I was mayor were the responsibility of the state and not being enacted on, issues important to us. When we started this campaign back in April there were a number of things we began to fight for. The first was the hospital. Since 2017 the hospital operators have been seeking a long-term lease to allow them to invest in expansion of and improvement of the site. In April this year the LNP announced our commitment to a long-term lease for the hospital. Meanwhile our petition, our advocacy and our efforts to raise awareness of this issue were cited by the Independent Member as nonsense. Yet on the eleventh hour on the eve of the caretaker mode the Labor Minister suddenly announced that Labor and the hospital had suddenly secured an in-principal agreement with the hospital operators. But this actually means nothing, in principal, no signed lease, no confirmation of the terms of the lease. We are still being left in the dark. Only the LNP is the party that has committed to a long-term lease. Crime. We know here in Noosa crime has increased significantly over the past few years yet our numbers of police are less than they were in 2017. We are facing serious issues including e-bikes, e-scooters, and youth crime but you can’t do anything without enforcement and to do that you need police on the ground. That’s why the LNP has committed to stronger laws and more police. Similarly only one month ago our leader David Crisafulli announced if the LNP was successful Noosa would be home to safe night precincts which mean more police, more police powers. Beckman’s Road. In 2000, 24 years ago Labor promised to deliver the Tewantin bypass. It has become the long and winding road of broken promises. Labor cut funding for this critical piece of infrastructure from this year’s budget which we, the LNP, immediately called out. Again literally hours before we went into caretaker mode, that funding was put back in with an additional $7million thrown in for good measure. There is only enough for the case study and not one bit of soil will be turned with this money. Certainly not fast-tracked and according to the TMR website that funding is far from secured – “construction of the project will depend on funding commitments and competing statewide priorities” (TMR website). We are no further ahead. In Steven Miles press release who was quoted, not Mark, their candidate, but their favourite Independent, Sandy – another non-announcement that doesn’t commit to anything. I’ve been fighting for this and I’ll have more to say on this in the coming days and I can tell you any commitment I make won’t be conditional. Now the river. We’ve seen the debacle, the piecemeal approach that our river has endured for decades. The LNP has committed with an investment of nearly $37million to the Sunshine Coast Waterways Authority. That will sustainably and properly manage our Noosa River for the benefit of all. Finally and most significantly three letters over the past month have turned our community upside down – SFD – state-facilitated development. What this means for our community is catastrophic. What Labor have committed to is two developments which will change the look and feel of Noosa forever. It’s not a maybe. It will happen under Labor. Our Independent member has failed to stop this. What the LNP has committed to is that we will stop this process, that we will work with Noosa Council and we will not dictate to them. We will work with them and we will stop high-rise in Noosa. This is an election the LNP must win. The only way you can guarantee a change of government is to vote LNP. You’re going to hear that’s not the case, but if every resident says I like my member, they work hard, then in three weeks time you will have Steven Miles and you will have high-rise. The only way to guarantee a change in government is for voting for the LNP, just like we delivered de-amalgamation and made good on a promise for that we will make good on a promise again.
Sandy Bolton (Independent): Why did I stand for an Independent going back two terms ago? I lived here for 35 years but what I saw was this kind of see-sawing – the two majors – someone comes in, someone goes out, things change. I watched as government came in and took funding away or shut our TAFE and I looked these things and they were a catalyst of things that you fight long and hard for in our communities and with a change of government, suddenly those things don’t occur. So those things led to the importance for Noosa remaining independent is absolutely essential. It should never be sacrificed. We are envied across the state. I get to work with both sides but I can also can call them out because I don’t have any reason why not to. My vested interest is with you, this community, not to a party or their white policies which may not suit us. I can take your voice forward and I have. Some of the examples when I think going back with the inquiry into assisted dying. Our surveys were showing our community, 90 per cent was seeking that. That’s when you can take that voice and not be constrained. So there’s been so much we’ve achieved over that time, being independent. Stage one of the Tewantin bypass. It was actually, and Clare raised, there was a de-maining agreement going back 20 years ago said, “when needed”. Those fine prints are the things that are really our undoing in our community because assessment of need, I think going back to 2006 planning scheme said we would have 63,000 residents but I think we’ve still only got about 57,500. So I had to go in and make a case built on what is happening to the south of us, the visitations. I had to work hard to get that first stage done. I stood up when that funding suddenly disappeared and when I investigated, because it’s a Council road, Beckmans, I found out meetings had suddenly stopped in November. Now there’s no notification, nobody said, Sandy, there seems to be an issue. So when I found out what I did not only did I call for it to be reinstated but for the amount to fast track it – that’s doing two parts together. It had to have the detailed design and it had to have the business case so we can go for construction funding. And Clare I hope some of those announcements will be approximately $100million from the LNP, if they come into government, to be able to fund that construction. That’s the type of position Noosa is in at the moment, and you’ve seen the announcements whether it’s pedestrian crossings or to do with the SFD’s, it is a result of that I have stood up in Parliament, even at the time those SFDs – both majors supported, supported the bill that allowed it. I was the one to say, no, and there were valid reasons why. Going right back I put my foot right there on the spot and said this does not work the lack of clarity, the lack of detail including around affordable, and to override local government.
Other achievements: Six Mile Bridge #7, defunded when a certain government, and I’m not going to throw rocks here, but when they were elected in, literally took that funding out, so we managed to get that done. The Noosa River, for years, but we managed to do a pilot to bring together the river advisory group which was co-chaired by Council and MSQ. That was a long journey. Two years I think that reference group worked and all those recommendations have been rolling out with, again, some challenges, but we’ve managed to get on top of that. As for being the first Independent Chair for a committee for 20 years that was for Youth and Justice – that was to get what Queensland was asking for greater safety now and into the future, but we needed a bipartisan agreement. Across Queensland we heard the voices, we saw the evidence – that led to 60 recommendations. I called on both government and the opposition to support. The government came out and supported in full or in principle, with over half those recommendations already being progressed through. So far we haven’t heard anything from the other side, but I’ll continue. As the representative of Noosa I am not biased except I need to make sure our community is looked after and at this stage they still have not responded to those recommendations. I think when you overall look at statements that any party and I don’t care who they are, they say we need this seat to get a change of government, why would you sacrifice Noosa. There are 93 seats. We are envied and we need going for to make sure the promises they’ve both made are actioned and I’m the one who can do that.
