Central Coast Greens have announced their candidates for Robertson and Dobell in the coming Federal election.
Candidates Cheryl Wallace (Robertson) and Simon Cooper (Dobell) are committed to putting dental and mental health into Medicare, building more genuinely affordable homes and freezing rents for immediate relief, making education free from early childhood through to TAFE and university, and acting on climate change to reduce the costs that will come with extreme weather.
Cooper has firsthand experience of the harsh realities of the rental market, including periods of homelessness, which has given him a deep understanding of the devastating effect of housing insecurity.
He uses his art practice to teach and support individuals who have encountered barriers to accessing further education and is fiercely passionate about justice, affordable housing, free healthcare and free education.
“We must stop logging native forests,” he said.
“The Forestry Corporation is cutting down habitat trees in Ourimbah State Forest to sell for 20c a log; it’s criminal.
“In a country famous for sunshine, we should be doing more to expand publicly owned renewable energy generation and batteries, so that we can all have access to clean energy.
“I’m an educator and I know how important lifelong learning and a good educational foundation are.
“We know that education costs are a strain on many families, and public schools are having to charge parents money for activities that would be free if public schools received adequate funding.
“We want everyone to have the benefits of free early childhood, school, TAFE or university education so that they can flourish and benefit society.”
After 45 years as a Registered Nurse, Wallace has real insight into the healthcare system’s challenges and the urgent need for reform to ensure equitable access for all Australians.
Since retiring and moving to the Coast 10 years ago, she now spends her time volunteering for Oz Harvest and is well known in her local area as the Director of Education at the Terrigal Surf Club.
Previously, she was a Rural Fire Service operational firefighter and for six years, a local Landcare co-ordinator.
“As a former nurse, healthcare is a subject I’m passionate about,” she said.
“I will campaign to get dental and mental health into Medicare – in a country like ours, people shouldn’t have to choose between rent and their health.
“They should be able to manage both these basic human rights.”
Climate change is also high on her agenda.
“We have to transition to a clean renewable energy base,” she said.
“Pie in the sky nuclear plans are just a delaying tactic to benefit the fossil fuel industry and ignore the issue of managing radioactive waste.”
The candidates’ campaigns will be launched by Senator Mehreen Faruqi on Sunday, March 23, at the Gosford Fun Haus Factory from 2pm-4pm.
Register to attend at greens.org.au/nsw/CentralCoastLaunch
What sort of candidate will Simon Cooper be if his first statement is an inflammatory lie? Whilst Mr Cooper may be opposed to the sustainably managed native timber industry, which is his right, spreading falsehoods based on ideology in an attempt to grab a cheap headline does not reflect well on a hopeful public figure.
Native forest harvesting in NSW occurs on a very tiny scale, as in any one year about 0.2% of the 22 million plus hectares is harvested for timber and then every harvested tree is regenerated (regrown) under NSW law. Within NSW, only 12% of the public forests are available for selective harvesting under strict environmental conditions, with the other 88% of the public estate already managed purely for conservation.
With 88% of NSW’s public forests already managed for conservation, it seems counterintuitive to me that you would put all your “conservation and extinction avoidance” eggs in the one National Park basket, if you are seeking to ensure the survival of any species. Particularly, as no one knows how species are faring in the current National Park estate, as no one is willing to look (just in case it’s NOT working). When someone does look, the results are not very flattering. The decline is species like the Southern Brown Bandicoot (44% in NSW and 100% (local extinction) in Victoria and South Australia), Hastings River Mouse, Eucalyptus imlayensis, Prasophyllum correctum (orchid), Eastern Brown Treecreeper, Superb Parrot, Broad-headed Snake and many other species is a direct result of the creation of new national parks and the exclusion of fire and/or grazing.