SHARON CLAYDON – LABOR
Sharon Claydon was elected as the Federal Member for Newcastle in 2013.
Sharon is a fifth generation Novocastrian with strong connections to her local community. She is an Honours graduate in Anthropology and, before entering Parliament, worked in remote Aboriginal communities and the community-based disability services sector. Sharon also served in local government as a Newcastle City Councillor.
In Parliament, Sharon is Deputy Chair of the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee, and a member of the Indigenous Affairs and Public Works Committees. Sharon is also Co-Convenor of the Parliamentary Friends of Carers.
As a member of the Federal Labor Caucus, Sharon is Chair of the Cost-of-Living and Status of Women Committees, and Secretary of the Sustainable Australia Committee.
Sharon is a strong advocate for social justice, equality and sustainability
DAVID COMPTON – LIBERAL
I’m a father, a business owner and a local and I’m standing as your Liberal Candidate for Newcastle. As a business owner, I know that investment in business means more growth and more jobs for local businesses and families.
A stronger economy, means stronger local communities. And raising my family here in Newcastle, I want to see a safer, vibrant local community for my children.
That’s why I’ve supported local community groups and used used my business experience and local knowledge serving on our local council. I want to give local families the best opportunities right here in Newcastle.
JOHN MACKENZIE – THE GREENS
Dr John Mackenzie is a research consultant in natural resource management policy. He specialises in social science research methods for improving the ways that policies and laws are designed, assessed and improved. He has over fifteen years experience in academic, government and consulting roles, working on projects around the country that bring communities together to find solutions to complex, divisive and intractable natural resource management problems.
Dr Mackenzie’s work focuses on collaborative planning, community engagement, water management, social impact assessment, and Indigenous natural resource management.
In addition, he is a sessional lecturer in environmental ethics and values at the University of Newcastle and an adjunct Research Fellow at the Socio-Legal Research Centre at Griffith University. He has an extensive record of volunteer and professional experience in community environmental and social justice campaigns.
As the former coordinator of the Hunter Community Environment Centre, he led a series of grassroots, community campaigns in Newcastle for environmental and public health. These include campaigns for the protection of our precious and threatened Hunter Estuary Wetlands, covering coal wagons, improved health regulations to reduce the impacts of mining, burning and transporting coal on vulnerable populations, reducing air and water pollution in our port and rail corridor suburbs, and opposing the fourth coal terminal.
STUART SOUTHWELL – DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY (DLP)
Stuart Southwell is running for the Seat of Newcastle in the 2016 federal election and believes that housing affordability, the decline of blue collar jobs, and foreign ownership of Australian assets (including residential housing and the Newcastle Port), are important issues for his electorate.
As a small business owner, Stuart is a firm believer in the rights of workers, but also believes that cooperation is needed between employers and employees. He believes that the family should be supported as the centre of any society and that housing prices are currently far too high for many average Australian households to afford. He is also a firm believer in Australian ownership of strategic assets and thinks that foreign ownership over Australian land should be restricted.
Stuart is 27 years old and was born and raised in the small Australian country town of Scone. After completing his secondary education at Scone High School, Stuart completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Newcastle. He then completed his Honours year in History, with a thesis in Australian-Indonesian Foreign Relations. Since then, he has established and now manages a small tutoring business that operates in the Newcastle and Maitland regions. He is also seeking to be qualified as a high school History and Mathematics teacher.
As a Christian, Stuart is an active member of an evangelical church in the Newcastle Anglican Diocese. He is standing as a candidate because he believes that Australia needs a balance-of-power party, like the DLP, that locates itself at the centre of the political spectrum. He believes that the Greens, who advocate a radical ideological agenda, have for too long occupied this balance-of-power position, and have had a detrimental influence over Australian politics, particularly in terms of social policy.
KAREN BURGE – DRUG LAW REFORM
My name is Karen Burge, I am a 45 year old grandmother who runs The Church Of UBUNTU Wellness Clinic in Hunter St Newcastle. I have been doing extensive research on Medicinal Cannabis for the past two years and healed my own body from the debilitating effects of autoimmune disease and a heart condition. I have decided to run as a candidate in the upcoming election because I want all Australians to have the opportunity to use this safe effective medicine that I and millions worldwide are having success with.
The Drug Law Reform party is a single issue party with the intention to have affordable access to cannabis for all Australians now.
The current laws and regulations in place regarding Medicinal Cannabis mean that Australians still have to wait years to access this medicine. This is not good enough for the elderly, the sick and children with epilepsy and other debilitating illnesses.
The majority of Australians can not wait another day let alone weeks, months or years. People are dying now while the world’s safest natural medicine could be grown for FREE in all Australian backyards. Cannabis, Hemp was the main source of food and medicine for thousands of years until the mid 1930’s because it was, and still is a huge threat to multinational corporations and now big pharmacies. Cannabis, Hemp food is the most complete source of nutrition on the planet. It is a dietary essential not a commodity. Prohibition of this food source is a crime against humanity.
My vision is to see the city of Newcastle lead the way in transitioning from coal to a hemp industry first providing this staple food source to children with epilepsy and other debilitating illnesses, as well as the sick and elderly in nursing homes and hospitals
ROD HOLDING – INDEPENDENT
I am passionate about Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.
Newcastle is a diverse city and I feel privileged to be in a position where I can interact with a wide range of people on a daily basis.
There are so many pressing issues that have barely been touched upon by the major parties in this election. The Williamtown contamination fiasco is ongoing and the future effects on the Stockton sand beds and Newcastle’s water reserves is yet to be understood. ORICA’s Ammonium Nitrate storage facility needs to be removed immediately for the safety of the surrounding residents.
MILTON CAINE – CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (FRED NILE GROUP)
I was born in Perth WA but I have made Newcastle my home, since 1980, where I met and married my wife, Mary; we have 4 adult children. While being trained in the automotive trade, these days I choose to drive a wheelchair accessible taxi. I am a member of ANEW church at Lambton – a part of the Anglican tradition. My Christian Faith fine tunes my compassion which is why I enjoy helping the most disadvantaged in the community in my wheelchair accessible taxi, as well as in other ways. My care and compassion are the heart of my Christianity.
This care and compassion for the most vulnerable is a strong reason why it wise to vote for me. My desire to fix the Williamtown Pollution, to make the NDIS deliver to all disabled persons without regard to age or disability, to have one law applicable all – including government, to deliver restorative justice, to balance relationships and defend marriage, to stop the sell off of Australia and Australian businesses, to stop the drain of blue collar jobs off shore, to bring a balance to mining – it must be safe and environmentally friendly, to tax all businesses and to deliver true financial accountability. To re-establishment of a strong moral code in our communities, where respect for each other becomes very important once again, so we will be able to get the domestic and community violence under control. To protect the retirement income of our pensioners, so their superannuation is not eroded and their family home not under threat. To protect the most vulnerable babies from abortions and the elderly from premature death via euthanasia but deliver palliative care funding increases. Stop the privatization and the excessive manipulation of the market place by big businesses. Only I will deliver!
