There are 25 candidates vying for your vote in the five Illawarra electorates this state election.
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Before you head to the polling booth and grab your sausage sandwich on Saturday, get to know the Kiama candidates.
Anne Whatman, Sustainable Australia Party
Ms Whatman, 68, lives in Gerringong and is recently retired scientific officer/clinical trial manager.
Our family moved to the Illawarra, 25 yrs ago. We feel very attached to the area, where there is a strong sense of place and community. I love gardening, beachlife, the bush and wildlife and really look forward to the annual Berry Open Garden Festival. I have a great interest in the history of the Kiama Electorate, through belonging to the very active Gerringong District Historical Society.
Beyond the beauty of the Kiama electorate is the stark reality of dairy farmers on prime agricultural land, struggling to make a living due to unfair milk pricing, the overdevelopment of the South Coast, without sufficient rail infrastructure and services; the reckless loss of prime agricultural land, and native bushland for endless residential housing.
The Sustainable Australia Party is from the sensible centre of politics. We have positive policies covering economic, environmental and social plans. Our policies address Australia's lazy dependence on population growth, as a substitute for a diversified economy. We seek to better invest in education and skills training for local workers and reallocate our economic capital back into business and farms. We also have policies to address the need for affordable housing, jobs for the future and a living wage.
Top three priorities:
- Improvements to South Coast Rail. I support an additional line from Kiama to Nowra, electrification of the line, and allocation of funds to build a railway bridge over the Shoalhaven River to Nowra.
- Secure jobs via a more diverse economy, not as reliant on the housing market for growth.
- Affordable Housing for first home buyers and renters.
Gareth Ward, Liberal
Mr Ward, 37, lives in Bomaderry and is the member for Kiama.
Having grown up, lived and worked in our community my entire life, I enjoy working hard to get results for our community every day as the local MP. I attended, Kiama pre-school, Bomaderry Primary and Bomaderry High. I hold degrees in Arts, Commerce and Law, a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice and I'm an admitted solicitor in the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of Australia.
I've served as a councillor on Shoalhaven City Council between 2004 and 2012. Since entering Parliament, I've chaired the Electoral Matters Committee and served as Deputy Government Whip and Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Illawarra and the South Coast.
Since becoming your local MP, we have delivered projects that many thought would never happen. Upgrades to the Princes Highway at Gerringong and Berry are complete and as promised, we are delivering the Albion Park Rail bypass and the Berry to Bomaderry Upgrade.
We're getting on with the job of delivering a $270 million upgrade at Shellharbour Hospital and we'll deliver a $434 million upgrade of Shoalhaven Hospital complete with more nurses, doctors and staff. We've doubled the number of carriages on key peak rail services and I've secured a commitment for more seats and more services.
Nina Digiglio, Greens
Ms Digiglio, 49, lives in Bomaderry and is a registered nurse, Parkinson's clinical nurse consultant and Shoalhaven councillor.
Being the eldest of eight in an Italian family growing up in South East Sydney was tough but a free university education changed everything for me. Thirty years working as a nurse, with vulnerable sick people, children and their families and with the Indigenous community, and later as a Shoalhaven City Councillor, highlighted deficiencies in our health system, welfare system, schools, housing, transport - everything.
I've lived in the region for more than 16 years and have seen the impacts of failed government policies that have let too many people down, particularly our youth, elderly and most vulnerable. There is no climate action or policy, 80 per cent of NSW power still being generated by coal, and 10 million animals dying each year from land cleaning.
In parliament, I will never support overdevelopment and over-population. I will work to protect our agricultural land, and the heritage and coastal character of our unique towns. As a councillor, I know and understand local issues and the social impacts of overdevelopment and developer agendas. I will work to improve the health, welfare, schools, housing, transport, have solar on all schools and hospitals, take strong action on climate change, plastics, land-clearing and logging to save our oceans and biodiversity.
Andy Higgins from Labor and John Kadwell - Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group) did not respond.