Hervey Bay Gossip

Over the last couple of weeks the Hervey Bay Gossip has published comments from three of the candidates for the State seat of Hervey Bay.

The Gossip attempted to email each candidate with an invitation to have their say. The request was couched in these terms:

With the election coming up I would like to give you a chance to have your say on the Gossip. So I invite you to submit a piece - say around 300 words - that outlines two reasons why the people of Hervey Bay should vote for you.

Replies were received from three of the candidates and you can follow the link associated with each name to read those replies: Andrew McNamara, Jan Rohzinski and Peter Shuback

The Gossip attempted to email the Greens candidate for Hervey Bay via his email address as displayed on the Greens Party website. The email was redirected to a Hotmail account and subsequently bounced.

The Gossip also attempted to email the Family First candidate but was unable to locate an email address to send the request to. The party’s website displayed one email address for the entire state whereas all the other candidates could contacted directly by an individual email address.

Perhaps we at the Gossip are a little radical in our ideas of what a local member should be to the electorate but we prefer to talk to the candidate directly and not through a party machine because ultimately it’s the individual who will be representing us and our concerns - not the party machine.

This election is an important opportunity to change Queensland and Hervey Bay for the better.

Eight years of Labor Government have hurt Queensland.

The crises in health, including mental health, and the education and families departments have led to falling living standards in our community.

Hervey Bay has suffered as Labor’s poor economic management has led to big increases in state taxes.

Labor’s support for the Traveston dam will silt up the Mary River, devastate fishing habitats, the Great Sandy Marine Park, hurt families and drown communities.

We must build a more prosperous Queensland and a more secure community to leave our children. To do this we must abandon cheap political point scoring and look past the quick fix mentality.

We need to plan for our future and put in place a structure which encompasses health, education, jobs, community services and important local projects – all within a sound economy.

I have a proven track record of delivering for Hervey Bay with over 26 years of local, community and business experience. I am passionate about Hervey Bay. I am not afraid of hard work and will fight for all residents to ensure the community gets the support it deserves.

I was involved in tourism before being elected to Council and held the tourism, marketing, economic development and seniors portfolios. As a Councillor, I worked as part of a team that delivered the new Visitor Information Centre and the expanded airport terminal which has boosted visitor numbers to Hervey Bay.

I founded Business Hervey Bay and was one of the instigators of the rapidly growing annual Seniors Expo. I have a strong background in tourism and was a member of the Hervey Bay Tourism Board.

As a small business woman, qualified workplace trainer, real estate agent, Rotarian, and member of Hervey Bay’s Chamber of Commerce, I understand the importance of supporting existing businesses and encouraging new ones to grow the local economy and create more jobs.

I am committed to:

Fixing the health system – more doctors and nurses, improving aged care and the introduction of local hospital boards to give the community a say in the running of our hospital.

Fixing our roads – building and upgrading roads and improving traffic flow and pedestrian safety.

Fixing the water crisis – introduction of water rebates to encourage water conservation and NO to the Traveston DAM.

Fixing education and employment – delivering quality education through smaller class sizes and providing more employment opportunities.

Fixing law and order – more police on the beat and improved emergency services for safer communities.

I am also committed to delivering important local projects like the Fraser Coast Discovery Centre and the Hervey Bay Civic / Conference Centre. There are also urgent infrastructure needs for Hervey Bay that must be fixed as quickly as possible:

Traffic lights and pedestrian crossings at dangerous intersections like Boat Harbour Drive

A Driver Training Facility

More Boat Ramps

Sporting Grounds

Security Cameras along the Esplanade

And the list goes on

As your representative in the Queensland Parliament, I will be a strong, effective and supportive voice for all the people of Hervey Bay.

On Saturday, please help me to make Hervey Bay better by giving me your number 1 vote on the ballot paper.

Whale watching in Hervey Bay is definitely booming this year. Several mornings last week the crew for the
Gossip were down at the Urangan Boat Harbour as the whale boats were leaving and there were plenty of eager passengers on the boat.

At the same time the person who some credit with starting the whale watching industry here in Hervey Bay is getting herself involved in the starting up some competition for Hervey Bay down on the Gold Coast.

Quick Cat II pulls away from it’s moorings on Saturday morning

The Hervey Bay City Council is sponsoring Kids in the Park next Saturday - September 9 - at Apex Park, The Esplanade, Scarness from 10am to 2pm.

It will be a great day out for the whole family with free entertainment and activities, games and sports for kids and the whole family.

For further information contact Baysie Kids on 4124 3327

Sunshine Express has announced that it will cease flying its Hervey Bay - Maryborough - Brisbane route at the end of September.

It will also cease flying on its other routes including Brisbane - Coffs Harbour - Port Macquarie although that route will then be serviced by Brindabella Airlines.

If you’re thinking of starting a small business or a home based business here in Hervey Bay the Federal Government has just released a new check list that that covers many of the basic issues you need to consider when setting up a small business.

You can download a copy of the checklist here

From Monday September 11 the Hervey Bay Post Shop will be located at the other end of the building it’s now in.

Think of it as being down near Blondie’s and you’ve got the general area.