Local Government will be a bone of contention in Windermere

 

Windermere's Legislative Council seat vacated by resigning MLC Ivan Dean has become a five-horse race. ..................................... City of Launceston councillor Rob Soward has announced he will contest the Legislative Council election as an Independent. Mr Soward has studied and worked in the Windermere electorate for many years and has been an elected member of the Launceston council for the past 11.5 consecutive years. ..................................... Four of those years he spent as deputy mayor. Mr Soward said he had chosen to run because he believed the Legislative Council played a vital role in holding the state government accountable by advocating for his constituents. .....................................  "The Legislative Council has the opportunity to break the stalemate between the two major parties in the lower house," he said. ..................................... "Its role as a house of review is crucially important, but there is that opportunity to direct the government of the day to take action." ..................................... He pointed to Independent Mersey MLC Mike Gaffney's recent success, who recently successfully lobbied to get Tasmania's voluntary assisted dying legislation to pass both levels of Parliament. ..................................... Mr Soward said he would campaign on jobs, health, education, and housing as part of his election campaign. ..................................... He said he would lobby the government to bring more jobs to the Windermere electorate, particularly in George Town and Launceston's Northern Suburbs, including Rocherlea, Waverley and Ravenswood. ..................................... "Take hydrogen for example, both sides of government are supportive of hydrogen projects but I haven't seen one single job created." ..................................... Mr Soward said he'd lobby to encourage businesses to invest in those regions to increase the number of well-paid jobs. ..................................... There are now three Independent candidates for Windermere's seat, the election of which will be held on May 1, the same day as the lower house state election. ..................................... Will Smith, of JCP Empowering Youth, was endorsed by the retiring member Ivan Dean as his preferred candidate. ..................................... Mr Soward joins already declared Independent candidate Vivienne Gale, who announced her candidacy in February. ..................................... The Liberal Party has endorsed former television identity Nick Duigan as their candidate, and Labor has endorsed former Bass MHR Geoff Lyons as their candidate. ..................................... Mr Soward said he'd decided to run about a week ago after being encouraged by council constituents. ..................................... He said he truly believed in the Upper House's independence, which was why he'd decided to stand unaffiliated to a party. ..................................... I am not afraid to take some flak and stand up for people, so I think that will hold me in good stead if I am elected as an MLC. ..................................... Mr Soward, who faced public criticism following a harassment complaint in 2017, said he believed the matter was resolved. ..................................... He said he was looking towards the future and his campaign. ..................................... A magistrate, who chose to not convict Mr Soward over the incident following a guilty plea, said "he was a man of good character". ..................................... Other election priorities include improving the electorate's health outcomes, easing the social housing and rental crises, and improving access to quality courses for young people.

FOOTNOTE: Launceston's ratepayers with long memories will recall that Cr Soward was once the President of the Ratepayers Association. Its not anything that he has talked about recently.

Likewise the ratepayers living in Rocherlea, Waverley and Ravenswood. who go out to vote in Council elections will know what Cr Soward has done for them but he might need to remind some in his campaign and door knocking.

In races like this one, when candidates go knocking on doors they will discover where their support base is, the gender mix,  the income demographic and what is front of mind in the constituency they assume that they have. 

Polling day will no doubt be a time for reality checking and other assessments.

In Cr  Soward's tenure on council there has been quite a bit going on in northern Tasmania and one way or another. Significantly despite the property boom the regions economic reality has taken a hit and the extent of it remains an unknown.

Of concern to ratepayers will be the council's deficit position and the looming prospect of rate increases.

This election is a time when ratepayers need to be quizzing all candidates about where they stand in regard to reforming local government given that the current Act is long pst its use-by-date.