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Why Me
Why Me
| Why Me |
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If elected to the Legislative Assembly I’d like to be a vocal member of what’s set to be an influential cross bench. I want to make sure that we have a government that is truly representative of the electorate. The Stanhope Government itself has identified a lack of community consultation as one of it’s major failings in this current term. They’re going to great lengths to remedy that situation but I’m not confident they can self regulate on such an important issue. An independent voice such as mine would have headed off the single lane disaster of the Gungahlin Drive Extension and headed off some of the school closures.
As an independent, I will be in the envious position of being able to pick the eyes out of policy from both sides of politics. The Government and the Opposition have some great ideas regarding housing affordability. I’m in support of the liberal, ‘no stamp duty for first home buyers’ platform while at the same time applauding many of the government measures designed to ease the housing crisis. I agree with the ACT Property Council, that housing affordability is one of the major factors responsible for the territories labour shortage.
When it comes to education, I’m in support of Andrew Barr’s plan to reward teachers who are performing above and beyond the call of the duty. I do believe that the Government went a little too far with school closures. I’d like to give the school communities in Flynn, Hall, Cook and Tharwa the chance to prove that they could viably reopen in 2010. I’m in support of reducing class sizes, but I do question the cost effectiveness of capping them at 21.
I support in principle, the Stanhope Government’s Integrated Transport Framework. I would however, be very keen to recognize that the current petrol price crisis may well be the best opportunity we’ve ever had to convert more private car trips to bus trips. I believe that the time to ramp up spending on our Action bus network is now.
I support the building of a gas fired power station and data centre for the ACT, while being critical of the process of selecting a site thus far. I’m also of the belief that the Gas Fired Power Station/Data Centre has been used a political football quite possibly at great expense to future corporate development in Canberra. It’s a classic case of party politics hindering governance.
We seem set to have a minority government in the ACT from October. It could well be an assembly that requires compromise, consultation and patience. I have the communication skills and the patience to find solutions that are reflective of the wishes of the electorate. I’d like to be the voice of reason on London Circuit.
Mark Parton.
I’m meeting with a lot of folk in the coming weeks to talk about the issues that matter, I’d love to chat with you too sometime… drop me a line. |