Candidates grilled on Barton, health, privatisation

OPINION: Our five state election candidates fronted up to Yass Memorial Hall on Monday night to let Yass Valley residents get a good look at them.

About 70 locals turned out to see Pru Goward (Liberals), Iain Fyfe (The Greens), Wal Ashton (Outdoor Recreational Party), Ursula Stephens (Country Labor), and Adrian Van Der Byl (Christian Democratic Party) set out to impress.
But it was truly Stephens’ and Goward’s evening, with the other candidates often looking like bit players.

Country Labor Party’s Ursula Stephens.

Liberal’s Pru Goward.

Speeches kicked off the night. Goward drew hard on (what some might consider tenuous) local connections and refuted “lies” about the privatisation of the poles and wires (saying, in fact, that it’s not privatisation at all, as the state government will lease it all back); Fyfe did his best to dispel any “antipathy” towards The Greens by displaying the party’s sensitive side; Ashton gave a long explanation about a personal dispute with a National Park neighbouring his property that landed him in court (no one quite seemed to know what that was all about); Stephens impressed with local knowledge, managing to insert references to the closure of Mt Carmel High School, the fire and rebuild at Yass High, and the contentious local debate over average rural lot sizes, amongst other things; while Van Der Byl, who some will remember from previous election campaigns, was his usual self (managing to cause offense with racist comments about Muslims).

The evening livened up when questions were taken from the floor.

Topics were wide-ranging, from marriage equality, to refugee resettlement, and train services, but it was the Barton Highway and health services that got the most airplay, with electricity concerns coming in a close third.

There were a couple of surprises. For example, we discovered that Goward believes any move towards marriage equality must be led by the Churches, and Van Der Byl made no objection at all to medical marijuana.

None of the Barton questioners seemed particularly impressed with last week’s joint announcement from Goward and Hume MP Angus Taylor of $15 million for extra overtaking lanes between Murrumbateman and Hall, digging instead for more clues about how the whole mess can be duplicated once and for all. Sadly, there was no easy solution, with Goward proffering that it was probably a “10 or 20-year project”. Stephens could only agree.

It was when Goward was asked how health spending in Goulburn will benefit local residents that we saw the fire in her belly. Leaping to her feet, the friendly tone dropped away as she exclaimed, “So thanks very much!”

“We’re the only party who’s doing anything for health in this electorate!” She reiterated the funding announcement made just last week, stressing the $11.6m for Yass to upgrade the ambulance station and Multi-Purpose Service (MPS) health hub.
Stephens said the health funding announcement was confusing with close to $200 million split between Yass, Goulburn and Bowral but not much detail. Later she told Scoop, she was yet to be convinced of the reliability of “election promises”.
But it was the state’s electricity industry where Goward and Stephens were pushed polls apart. With a Transgrid contingent present, and ‘Stop the Sell Off’ placards and t-shirts on display, Goward knew she was not necessarily among friends.

Liberal candidate Pru Goward responds to heckling from an anti-privitisation contingent.

When challenged on the question of protecting local Transgrid jobs, Goward exclaimed “Why does Labor always think that jobs have to go? Of course the jobs will be there… But the conditions might change.”

This brought loud rumblings from the audience.
Goward tried to prosecute her case, saying jobs and conditions had little to do with privatisation, as costs had to come down either way.
Stephens contended that the whole business case for privatisation is lacking, and stressed that privately-owned companies would put profits before people when it came to our state electricity network.
Afterwards, the candidates were available for one-on-one discussions in the hall, with many punters lingering an hour or more to have a few moments with a particular candidate. Some were unhappy that other issues hadn’t been canvassed, such as patchy local television reception, stimulus for small business, and education.
Yass Rostrum hosted the evening, just about wearing out the time bell several times as both candidates and questioners went on too long, and Yass Can Assist provided refreshments.
Want more? Look out for YASS VOTES opinion columns, coming soon to Scoop.

Find videos of sections of their speeches at Scoop Yass Valley’s YouTube channel.

Photos: Alex Tewes.