The Northern Rivers Social Development Council and Tweed Community Voice are co-hosting a “Meet the Candidates” forum at the Tweed Heads Civic Centre on Thursday, March 17.
Doors open at 5.30pm for a prompt 6pm start.
Each candidate will give a brief statement about their goals and policies, then there will be speakers on urban development and water management followed by questions from the audience.
To date, the Tweed National Party incumbent, Geoff Provest, ALP candidate Reece Byrnes and Greens candidate Andrea Vickers have confirmed they will be present. It is expected that any Independent candidates who have nominated before March 10 will also be present.
Spokeswoman for the non-
aligned organisation Community Voice Dr Fiona McCormick encourages Tweed locals to attend this forum. “This gives us all a chance to hear how the candidates propose to be effective representatives for our electorate in the NSW State Parliament,” she said.
“Labor and the Coalition have been short on policy initiatives and it is important for voters to know just who will be representing them and how each candidate proposes to ensure that the diverse needs of our electorate are satisfactorily met. For too long now the politicians from the major parties have acted as though they are not accountable to the communities they have been elected to represent,” she said. “A forum such as this gives us all the opportunity to make an informed decision at the State Election on March 26.
“Community Voice aims to identify candidates who support a free and open dialogue with their constituents, who respect diversity of opinion and who recognise the importance of community in human society. Behaving responsibly towards each other and the natural environment are also core values of our organisation and we will be assessing potential candidates using these values as a yardstick,” said Dr McCormick.
“Another focus of Community Voice is to educate the community on how to vote effectively. One thing that distinguishes State elections from the Federal voting system is the process by which, in a
State election, your Lower House vote does not have to list
preferences. If you feel strongly about voting for a particular candidate in the Lower House and do not want your vote to ultimately flow to one of the major parties, you can simply place a “1” in the box next to their name and if that candidate does not get elected, that vote will be considered to have exhausted.
“In the Upper House, there are three options: you either just place a “1” above the line in the box of the group you prefer, or you can number all the groups above the line in order of your preference, or you can preference at least 15 candidates below the line,” she said.
“Mark this evening in your diaries – opportunities for face-to-face meetings with our political representatives are too important to miss!”
