Five parties want our votes for the seat of Wide Bay in the election on the 21st. The Noosa Residents and Ratepayers Association recently had them making their pitches to about 45 people after polling its members for the issues they felt were the most important. They chose the economy, internet access, education opportunities and the environment. The candidates invited were those registered at the time the invitations went out. They were Warren Truss, leader of The Nationals, Nikolee Ansell, standing for Labor and Jim McDonald, standing for The Greens. Santo Ferraro, standing for One Nation, made a gutsy stand by coming without invitation. Ken Herschell, running for Family First, did not take part in the forum, but we have since recorded his responses to complete the mix. After the candidates had given their own and their parties’ positions on three notified questions and responded to questions from the floor, each was able to sum up. We bring you an edited version of what was said, starting with the question on economics.
Economics
Last year a study by the University of New Newcastle identified Noosa as the most vulnerable non-metropolitan area in Australia for potential job loss. Our Wide Bay neighbours in Maryborough were the second most vulnerable. The questioner is Brian Stockwell, president of the association.
Runs 9′11″
Broadband
Improving access to the digital economy, reducing the cost of communication and facilitating educational opportunities through higher speed and reliable internet access was the most common issue raised by the poll of members. For example, one noted that Noosa would be one of the last cabs off the rank in Labor’s National Broad Band Network plans, with many smaller centres connecting well before us. Others commented on the potential to reduce the cost of doing business on the coast, considering Maroochydore is an STD phone call.
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Environment
Noosa’s lifestyle and economy have been built on decades of community endeavour to protect our natural assets. Climate change endangers much of what people here fought to protect. Extreme weather events, particularly violent storms, have damaged our roads and other infrastructure, bringing flooding and hardship to urban and farming communities. Rising temperatures are linked to reduced spawning at the endangered Mary River Cod Hatchery as the temperature has not got dropped enough over the last two years. Erosion threatens our iconic Noosa River, the beaches and foreshores. Despite this, the federal government’s “Caring for Our Country” program invests less in Noosa than the Natural Heritage Trust program before it.
Runs 8′25″
Questions from the floor
These questions from the floor were about broadband and the parties’ allocation of preferences.
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Closing statements
To sum up, the candidates were asked to explain the three most important differences between their own and the other parties, and why those differences are important to Noosa and Wide Bay. In part one, you’ll hear Warren Truss and Santo Ferraro, in part two we’ll finish with Nikolee Ansell, Jim McDonald and Ken Herschell.
Part one Runs 6′20″
Part two Runs 10′06″
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