Margie Maccoll
As Noosa Today goes on print on Wednesday vote counting continues to determine the new Noosa councillors, one first-time candidate, Nicola Wilson, is leading the tally. She isn’t sure why but is pleased with the results so far.
“No one knew who I was two months ago,“ she said.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised to have been able to get such a positive response in such a short time.
“I think people have responded to someone being real and being able to talk to the issues people care about rather than about myself.“
Nicola believes her skills in financial literacy have also been a boost to her voting popularity.
“Everyone wants to know their rates are being spent wisely. Everyone can see the benefit of that,“ she said.
Of her first campaign and with nothing to compare it with Nicola said candidates and volunteer supporters had gotten along well but a fishing lobby group which had members stationed at election booths and confronted voters with their opinions and how to vote cards, had been “really disappointing“.
“That was the only real conflict,“ she said.
“There were elderly women standing up to them saying they didn’t believe them. It was pretty awful.
“That seemed quite unfair for someone else to get fliers printed to get around expenditure rules. I had to have how to vote cards approved.“
Nicola said the voting result showed people were not swayed by the tactics.
Candidate Tom Wegener whose current vote count returns him to office, also raised the issue of the “confronting“ lobby group.
“They’ve hijacked the election. It’s quite concerning I think,“ he said.
“You can tell lies if you’re not an associated body, you can print out any how to vote cards you want.
“We’re in this new world of lack of truth.“
At one election booth a fishing lobby group member told Noosa Today “what we’re saying is we don’t believe locking the river down in a conservation park is the way to go. We believe there are other ways of doing it, to clean the river up, let’s put the pressure on the state government.
“I’m concerned people need to know what the conservation park is and what exactly are its powers,” the man said.
Last October, Council did not approve a Noosa River Catchment Plan which had been six years in the planning, deferring a decision on it until July this year. The move came after Council staff raised the possibility of initiating a Conservation Park on the Noosa River as a way of providing Council with a platform in decision-making on the state government-controlled river.
At the time Council acting CEO Larry Sengstock said: “Council is not going ahead with a Conservation Park, this Council is considering a Noosa River Catchment Plan that includes an action to consider a Conservation Park. Consideration of a Conservation Park would be a lengthy and comprehensive process and re- quires a number of steps including public consultation and a detailed feasibility assessment of natural, cultural and socio economic values of the river. If this were to proceed this process would take some time before any future Council considered going ahead with a Conservation Park over parts of the river“.
