General News
23 November, 2022
Meet your candidates for Lowan 2022
The 2022 Victorian Election is right around the corner and candidates for the district of Lowan have made their pitch to voters.
The 2022 Victorian Election is right around the corner and candidates for the district of Lowan have made their pitch to voters.
WD News presented each of the seven candidates for Lowan an opportunity to participate in a candidate questionnaire to provide readers with a deeper understanding of where they stand on the issues impacting the region.
Nationals’ candidate Emma Kealy, the incumbent MP, and independent candidate Amanda Mead were the only candidates for Lowan to respond to the questionnaire.
Candidates for Lowan Richard Etherton (Angry Victorians), Tamasin Ramsay (Animal Justice Party), Robert Coleman (Family First), Mick Monaghan (Labor) and Richard Lane (Greens) failed to respond.
The 2022 Victorian Election will be held this Saturday, November 26.
What would you like to tell voters about yourself?
Emma Kealy, Nationals: I am proud to have represented the fantastic people of our electorate during the 59th Parliament of Victoria.
Following redistribution, it is wonderful to have the community of Mortlake added to the Lowan electorate.
I’m sixth generation from Edenhope. Growing up in a small rural community in a farming family gave me a great base to understand the value and importance of supporting people who choose to live in rural and regional Victoria.
I’m a biomedical scientist by training, and worked in health for most of my career before entering Parliament. As CEO of Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital, I made a difference in building the town’s first purpose-built medical clinic; attracting our first female GP; and training nursing staff to do pathology testing and take x-rays so patients didn’t have to travel an hour away for healthcare.
My determination to make a difference is why I originally put my hand up for politics, and why I am again putting myself forward to represent the people of Lowan.
Amanda Mead, Independent: I am not a career politician. I am just your normal everyday local that only wants what is best for our electorate.
I cannot stand by and continue to see us ignored by the city centric government.
Like many of us, I previously have voted the way that my grandparents and parents have voted, but all that has left us with are crumbling roads, lack of healthcare services and degradation of our once thriving infrastructure.
It’s time that we re-evaluate how we use our vote and elect people that will put community before party lines and personal career aspirations.
What are the biggest challenges facing the district?
Emma Kealy, Nationals: Our crumbling road network, Victoria’s healthcare crisis and rising cost of living are the three consistent issues I hear right across the electorate.
Good-quality roads are vital to ensure people can get to work, school, healthcare appointments and sporting commitments safely, as well as get our produce to market.
But Labor’s ongoing VicRoads funding cuts have left our roads riddled with potholes and crumbling edges, risking the lives of motorists every single day.
Residents in our region also need and deserve access to great healthcare – including mental health services, better access to childcare, reduced household bills, increased access to public transport, improved access to rental housing, and reduced costs for building a new home.
And as interest rates increase and energy bills rise, just covering the mortgage repayments and daily household bills is becoming harder for more and more people.
Amanda Mead, Independent: Roads, healthcare, jobs and affordable housing.
These issues are all intertwined and need to be addressed.
The degradation of our roads in many areas has left them unsafe and dangerous.
Our healthcare is understaffed, underpaid and under-resourced that is now putting lives in danger.
Businesses and hospitals cannot get staff because there is no housing for them.
We need to look at these issues as a whole rather than as single issues to begin addressing them better.
If elected, how do you plan on addressing these challenges?
Emma Kealy, Nationals: The Nationals will properly fund VicRoads – $1 billion a year over 10 years – so they have the resources to fix our crumbling road network.
We will also reinstate the Country Roads and Bridges Program, scrapped by Labor in 2014, providing $1.5 million every year to every country council to keep local roads safe, which takes pressure off councils to increase rates.
We will train 40,000 nurses and allied health professionals to fill healthcare vacancies; immediately unlock additional mental health workers to deliver two million more mental health appointments every year; and give the fabulous Let’s Talk program an additional $1 million to ensure it can continue to expand its great work.
Importantly, we will rebuild Mortlake Community Health Centre – the heart of healthcare and community wellbeing in Mortlake.
The Nationals will also unlock our conventional gas reserves and quarantine it for use for Victorians first rather than shipping cheap gas overseas.
Increasing natural gas supply will help push down gas prices, reduce carbon emissions and provide base load power so homes and businesses can keep the lights on.
Amanda Mead, Independent: My first priority is to push for a redistribution of state funding.
For too long when the major parties talk about regional issues they refer to large cities like Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Frankston.
I will put forward legislation to secure 20 per cent of all state funding, across all sectors, be allocated to regional and rural areas outside the major four regional hubs.
What core policies are you running on?
Emma Kealy, Nationals: I continue to fight for a number of crucial local projects including upgrading Terang-Mortlake Health Service’s Mortlake campus with a new, purpose-built community health centre and ambulance station; fixing our crumbling roads; and upgrading our schools and sporting facilities.
If elected to government, the Nationals have pledged to deliver funding for these projects, and will also guarantee that we will reduce household bills, halve surgery waiting lists, provide better access to childcare, and deliver a 25 per cent Regional Infrastructure Funding Guarantee to ensure our region will always receive its fair share of funding for roads, rail, hospitals and schools.
Amanda Mead, Independent: Redistribution of state funding, to secure future funding for the next generations.
Let Kids be Kids – Our current education system is forcing adult ideologies onto our children.
This has taken away a parents/guardians right to decide where, when and how a child is to learn about sex education, gender fluidity and identity.
I propose to make these topics optional and allow parents to review the curriculum.
Why should readers vote for you?
Emma Kealy, Nationals: I pride myself on being approachable, accessible and willing to listen to everyone in the community.
I will always stand up for local people to ensure their voices are heard, and have a proven track record to get results and make a difference in the communities I represent.
While I’ve only ever been in Opposition, I’m very proud that my passionate advocacy to progress the great ideas from across the region to reality has led to more than $160 million in state government investment in my time as the Member for Lowan.
It has been extremely rewarding to work alongside our fabulous community groups, schools, health services, sporting clubs, councils, emergency service organisations and many other local champions.
I care deeply about our people and our region, and always strive to be a “good local member” and strong voice for local country people in everything I do.
I will always put our community first and fight for our fair share.
Amanda Mead, Independent: A vote for me is a vote for our community.
If we want any chance of fixing what is broken in our electorate we need to turn this seat marginal.
Look at Rippon to the east. It is marginal and they will now get two new hospitals and a new highway.
While here in Lowan, we get the same election promises every four years and nothing gets done.
If we continue to stay a “safe” seat we will continue to be ignored.
As an Independent I can do just as much if not more than the Nationals because I am not tied to a party line.
As well as at the next election there will be competition for this seat which brings more funding for our area.
