Election candidates to face the community
ELECTION FORUMS
The community will have the chance to hear from both their Mayoral and Councillor candidates at two election forums being held in the Douglas Shire in the coming days.
The first is a public forum being hosted by the Douglas Shire Ratepayers’ Association (DSRA) tomorrow, Saturday 7 March at the Mossman Bowls Club between 2:00pm and 4:00pm.
The forum will give all candidates a chance to introduce themselves and discuss their campaign and key issues for the upcoming election.
President of the DSRA, Sylvia Healy said it is important for the community to get to know their candidates.
“This is an opportunity for the community to learn more about the candidates running by hearing about the skills and knowledge they would bring and their key election commitments,” she said.
“In response to a request from some of our members we have asked that candidates reveal if they are a member of any political party or any local community association such as the DSSG, TPDD, or Chamber of Commerce.”
“The upcoming election will define the future of the Douglas Shire. We need to be fully informed and select our representatives carefully. Please do not miss this opportunity to get to know more about the candidates standing for Council and Mayor.”
All Mayor and Councillor candidates will be in attendance with the exception of Abigail Noli and Roy Zammataro who have declined the offer. Steve Cruickshank and Bruce Clarke have yet to respond.
Ms Healy said she was pleased most candidates will be attending but was disappointed in those who had declined the invitation.
“Not attending to me is like applying for a job and not going to the interview,” she said.
Each candidate will have time to introduce themselves and answer a selected question.
“Candidates have a list of questions that we have given them in advance, and they will select one randomly from a hat and answer that question,” Ms Healy said.
“We have also encouraged all the candidates to stay after the formalities to give them a chance to interact with the community on a more relaxed one-on-one basis.”
The forum is open to the entire community and Ms Healy has urged everyone to take the opportunity to attend and become better informed about the candidates.
Newsport will be live streaming the event for those who are unable to attend.
The agenda and list of possible questions to candidates are available on the DSRA website.
Meanwhile, a second election forum is being held by the Daintree Marketing Co-operative (DMC) on Monday 9 March at the Heritage Lodge, Diwan from 6:00pm to 8:00pm for DMC members.
Nine candidates will be attending, including both mayoral hopefuls with only two candidates so far, Steve Cruikshank and Bruce Clarke, indicating that they cannot attend.
The DMC said their major points of interest for the meeting will be re-examining an earlier plan for a walking Trail connecting Daintree and Wujal Wujal, tourism marketing, ensuring that the new ferry service meets expectations, and innovative solutions to By-Law education and observance.
Candidates have been asked to provide written responses to question that will be circulated at the meeting and will again be asked questions which will address the DMC’s main concerns as well as take questions from the floor and debate issues.
The DMC has 56 members representing approximately 80 local businesses that work together to promote the Daintree region.
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