Gingin candidate responses to political connections and preferences

SOME of the 12 candidates contesting the Saturday, October 21 Shire of Gingin local government election have supplied their answers to questions including whether they are a member of a political party or a member of a preferential block with other candidates.

The 12 candidates for the six vacancies to be contested at this election are Linda Balcombe, Wayne Fewster, David Wilkie, Lincoln Stewart, Lindsie Leahy, Karen Rowe, Frank Peczka, Andrea Vis, Nikki Woods, Jason Weeks, Jenni Kenworthy and Mike Agnew.

Yanchep News Online asked all candidates:

1. Briefly what has prompted you to run for council in the Shire of Gingin?

1. Are you a member of a political party and if so which one?
2. In this local election are you part of a preferential block with any other candidates?
3. Do you live in the town of Gingin?
4. What types of businesses are you involved in?

Linda Balcombe:

1. I would like to make sure some of the strategies that I am part of are totally ingrained in the framework of council before I leave so I decided my work wasn’t done yet, such as the aged housing and care service provision, advisory group of whom I am the chair, has been working with the Gingin CRC on implementing the ‘Staying in Place’ project and bringing quality aged care provisions into the shire so our elderly can stay in their homes longer as we work towards implementing further projects such as social housing and retirement living. I am also passionate about the Guilderton foreshore and the caravan park and I am on the Guilderton foreshore working group so would like to get some initiatives off the ground before I leave council.
2. No I am not a member of any political party.
3. No I am not a member of any preferential block, I do think there are some good sitting councillors up for re-election and some good new candidates and I hope the electors vote for the right people. My advertisements are asking for people to vote 1 for Linda Balcombe.
4. Gingin but I love our whole shire and think any candidate needs to see the big picture.
5. I work for the local Community Bank, and have no other business interest, just a lot of community group interest.

 Wayne Fewster:

1. I believe with the potential changeover of council this year (at least two new councillors) I have the experience and knowledge needed for the next four years. I am passionate about our shire and have the time to commit to the role.
2. No
3. No
4. Lennard Brook
5. Hobby farming and some fill in stock transport.

Lincoln Stewart:

1. I have always been taught as a child and encouraged to stand up for people. This resulted in me serving my country in the Australian military and I have continued my efforts to serve our country and its people afterwards. I moved to the shire of Gingin three years ago and have ran into my own problems with the shires administrational processes. This resulted in me meeting other rate payers with similar problems and founding the Gingin rate payers collective to help other electors to stand up against the shires threats of infringement, legal actions and other administrational applications or red tape imposed by the shire. I resigned from the collective before nominating as a candidate to eliminate any future conflicts of interest when the shire deals with the collective in the future.

2. No, my political affiliation is not aligned to a particular party but rather the polices they campaign on and their previous political successes. I currently support the polices of the National Party of Australia.

3. No candidates are part of a particular block and we don’t have parties as such in local government elections, however, as we have six seats up for election, I have listed the six candidates that I believe will best represent the community on my campaign flyers and how to vote cards. One of the candidates is a current councillor and two of the other candidates that I support I had never met before the election officially started and I had read their candidate profiles and spoken to them.
4. Red Gully
5. I own and operate a privately funded wildlife sanctuary. I am a farmer and a volunteer fire fighter. I own a fitness business and have just sold a health and wellness clinic that my partner and I co-owned. We are exploring the introduction of providing tourism services as part of our wildlife sanctuary which would include kayaking, camping, a restaurant, cafe, horse trail riding and continued youth programs for troubled children.

Lindsie Leahy:

1. I have found myself increasingly frustrated in recent times by the people making decisions on our behalf who seemingly don’t live in the same real world as the rest of us. Having been fortunate enough to make some lifestyle changes in the last year, I have more time to give back to the community in different ways and decided to nominate for council to offer diversity and contribute to a positive change.
2.  I am not affiliated with any political party.
3. I am an independent nominee.
4. Neergabby
5. I am a nurse and we have various agricultural pursuits on our property.

Karen Rowe:

1. I decided to run for council as I was sick and tired of red tape and government overreach.
2. No
3. No
4. Muckenburra
5. I was involved in the transport industry until 2018.

Frank Peczka:

1. I want to put community back into council – give community an early opportunity to be consulted and engaged on major issues affecting the shire, to review the council’s forward position on maintaining and enhancing whole of shire community facilities and assets early and budget to maintain them, to continue consultation and engagement on draft CHRMAP and coastal management policies. We need to give further and detailed consideration to continue engaging community and supporting community to self help and introduce mitigation plans with a “shared responsibility” model of the three tiers of government.
2. No
3. Not officially – I have been named at number 6 on a ballot paper with new councillors above me. I have stated openly that I am not a financial member of the Gingin Ratepayers Collective, I have never been a member of that group since inception and I will continue to promote myself as the number 1 voter preference. I have only attended community meetings to “meet the candidates” and engage with community while acknowledging that the community meet the candidates meeting have been facilitated by the Gingin Rate Payers Collective.
4. Lancelin
5. Retail business. 

   Andrea Vis:

   1. I really enjoy helping and contributing to community, I have experience in government systems and would like to share those skills where I can, to be a conduit between community and the shire, improving conversations and communication with all parties. I truly believe that we can find that ‘happy place’ for residents/associations if we have a solution-focussed mindset (as well as being a bit innovative). After serving a term already, I feel like I have a better understanding of the rules/processes and can navigate them better to get outcomes and make decisions.
   2. No
   3. No
   4. Ocean Farm
   5. My husband runs several businesses – floor coverings (carpet/vinyl), firebreak installation/mulching/slashing/fire mitigation/BAL assessments.

Nikki Woods:

1. I really do care and love being apart of the whole shire so I wanted to have a say in the changes, future and ideas within the community.
2. No
3. No
4. The Rural Industrial Estate
5. Tilt tray and Hiab, fabrication and photography.

Jenni Kenworthy:

1. Our shire used to be helpful and work for the ratepayers.  I believe it is now time for a change for the better.
2. No, I do not belong to any political party.
3. Yes, I suppose I am as I jumped on board with a campaign for Lincoln Stewart, Karen Rowe, David Wilkie, David Weeks and Frank Peczka.
4. Coonabidgee
5. I am a part time bookkeeper.

Mike Agnew:

1. This shire has provided a wonderful place to work and live for many people including myself and my family, and I’d like to see this continue and feel it is time for me to step up and help. I was also motivated when I heard a block of people sharing a common motive were nominating in order to ‘take over’ the shire, this is something I don’t believe is in the best interests of the whole of the shire, as the strength of a council decision is that it is derived from 12 different people all with differing perspectives and viewpoints coming together to obtain a “balanced” decision.
2. No
3. Absolutely not.
4. Beermullah
5. We own and run Limestone Park Earthmoving and Limestone Park Stud (horses).