At the start of this federal election campaign we asked you, our readers, to nominate your biggest election issues.
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The results were clear; climate change is your greatest concern.
Next up was aged care, followed by the cost of living.
We put those issues to the eight candidates for the seat of Lyne and gave them three sentences to explain how they'd address each one. Responses any longer than that were cut, in the interest of space and fairness.
Candidates are listed in the order they will appear on Saturday's ballot paper.
1. CLIMATE CHANGE
Joanne Pearce (Independent): Donation reform to allow effective planning and policy based on what's best for the nation, rather than the wants of the big donors. Establish greater infrastructure that is appropriately planned to ensure the capability of a smooth affordable transition to a mix of energy sources. Set-up access to knowledge and support for farmers and small businesses to ensure they have the best ability to benefit from transition to new energy sources and improved technology.
Joel Putland (United Australia Party): Net Zero is a lofty, economic destroying target of the renewable energy markets pushed and financed by woke billionaires. We need a different approach to preserving our country for future generations, like nuclear power that will slash our energy prices, secure our energy market and create more jobs.
David Gillespie (The Nationals): The Coalition Government remains committed to reducing emissions to Net Zero by 2050 while continuing to support our economy. Supported by the Government's policies, Australia has the world's highest uptake of rooftop solar, with one in four homes with rooftop solar panels. We are building wind and solar three-times faster than Europe or the USA (on a per-person basis), backing projects to unlock the supply of natural gas, which is a flexible, reliable, energy source that helps lower emissions and we are building Snowy 2.0 to increase the reliability of renewable energy.
Alex Simpson (Labor): As a former battery scientist, climate action is close to my heart. Labor has a plan to build 400 community batteries, as well as solar banks, and will fully modernise our power grid, bringing emissions down by 43% by 2030. Lyne has no major energy generators, despite being such a large electorate, so I'll be advocating for investment in energy projects right here in Lyne.
Steve Attkins (Independent): Firstly we need to acknowledge the issue of climate change in Australia. We are not even really acknowledging the issue when the nationals are holding us to ransom ($34B ransom).We should be advancing multiple variations of alternative energy provision - particularly base load power delivery.
Mark Hornshaw (Liberal Democrats): A changing climate poses a much greater risk when people are struggling to make ends meet and dependent on the government. The reckless net zero policies of both major parties are causing the cost of energy to skyrocket, which makes us more vulnerable to climate related issues and gives us less capacity to cope with fires and floods. The Liberal Democrats' Cheap & Reliable Energy policy will mean ending the net zero targets and allowing all energy sources, including nuclear, to compete on equal terms and see which ones deliver.
Josephine Cashman (Pauline Hanson's One Nation): Climate change is a cult for the collection of people who are unable to understand real science. For the purpose of using them to destroy small business people, to demolish our free enterprise society for the benefit of the United Nations [which] aims to tear down Australian security and prosperity.
Karl Attenborough (The Greens): The Greens will phase out the mining, burning and export of thermal coal by 2030. The Greens will also support households and small businesses to get of gas and move to electric alternatives. Our fully costed climate action plan will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, bring electricity costs down and drive our economy into the future.
2. AGED CARE
Joanne Pearce (Independent): We've had a stark Royal Commission into Aged Care and it's findings need to be implemented. The biggest priority is more skilled staff to residents, an action that actually saved money when introduced in Qld due to reduced hospitalisation from falls, dehydration etc. The next priority is to expand the availability of skilled workers by paying them at skilled rates as currently trade qualified AIN's are paid at unskilled rates, while 8th year RN's are paid at 5th year rates.
Joel Putland (United Australia Party): Our aged care and health care locally and federally need urgent attention and extra funding. The system is broken as pointed out by the Royal Commission into aged care and our local aged care facilities closing under the nose of the regional health minister and current Nationals member. I will be fighting for a better outcome for our electorate, aged and health care facilities.
David Gillespie (The Nationals): The Coalition Government is delivering the most significant reform in a generation to improve the care of senior Australians as they age. Since I was first elected, aged care funding in the Lyne electorate has increased from $90-million each year to well over $200-million a year. Our plan for aged care is founded on our detailed response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, implementing a five-year program covering the 148 recommendations and backed by $19.1 billion in additional funding for more home care places, more funding for aged care centres and increases in the amount of time that nurses and carers spend with residents.
Alex Simpson (Labor): From the beginning, we recognised that health and aged care should be a main focus in this region. Labor will fix the crisis in aged care, with a minimum average of 215 minutes of daily care, better food standards, 24/7 nursing, oversight of aged care spending, and supporting a pay rise for aged care workers. I've spoken to community groups in Taree, Bulahdelah, and across the electorate, and I know how important it is to support better care in Lyne.
Steve Attkins (Independent): We should adopt the Aged Care Royal Commission findings; address pay rates in the industry immediately. Have a National Aged Care policy that is not open to alteration every year by political parties and also reduce the bleed to Private companies for aged care payment systems.
Mark Hornshaw (Liberal Democrats): Aged care is critically important, and governments have continually failed our old people. The first priority is to get our healthcare workers back to work by ending the vax mandates. Then we need to decentralise decision making so that people with local knowledge, who actually care, are making funding and staffing decisions rather than having to plead with a cold Canberra bureaucracy.
Josephine Cashman (Pauline Hanson's One Nation): Aged care under the government is difficult - aged care under enterprise is difficult. More attention should be paid to the sons, daughters and grandchildren of aged carers to have a proper determination about how an aged care person should be cared for.
Karl Attenborough (The Greens): With the "Aged Care for ALL" policy, The Greens will provide $6 billion per year to: increase hours of care to 4 hours 18 minutes per resident per day; introduce staff-to-resident ratios to ensure the best quality care; increase wages for aged care workers by 25% and improve conditions and training; phase out for-profit providers; guarantee a human rights based approach to aged care and end physical and chemical restraints and invest $260 million to keep the home care package waiting list clear.
3. COST OF LIVING
Joanne Pearce (Independent): Increase supply of affordable housing by working with the State Government to develop smaller, affordable, good quality homes available on a rent to buy system from the government for Australian workers and retirees who do not already own a home. Rural Australians need to travel distances and are currently at the mercy of OPEC fuel prices, let's smooth the importation process for second-hand electric vehicles, $12 from Melbourne to Sydney. We were talking about stagnant wages long before COVID-19, and I would work with, not against, our best economic professionals to establish the best path out of our wage stagnation to avoid triggering a rapid inflation recession cycle.
Joel Putland (United Australia Party): Liberal/National and Labor/Greens have run up over 1 trillion in debt causing rapid inflation while selling off assets and manufacturing overseas. We are the only party with a plan to reduce cost of living, bring back manufacturing, create more jobs, increase wages and our standard of living and to pay down the debt and return us to a surplus budget and economic prosperity.
David Gillespie (The Nationals): As part of our economic plan, the Coalition Government is implementing a temporary, targeted and responsible cost of living package which includes cutting the fuel excise in half for six months, saving Australians 22 cents a litre. A one-off $420 Cost of Living Tax Offset will help over 10 million low-and-middle income earners, with pensioners and other concession card holders receiving a one-off $250 Cost of Living Payment. The Federal Budget will support small businesses, increase apprenticeships and invest strongly in manufacturing, infrastructure and regional development to help with cost of living pressures.
Alex Simpson (Labor): Labor's policies are built around making living in Australia more affordable, by covering 90% of childcare costs for families with yearly incomes below $75,000, driving a projected drop in power bills of $275 a year by 2025, and increasing the low and middle income tax offset by $420 by year's end. Labor also has a housing equity plan that covers more than a third of the cost of eligible homes (up to 10,000 homes a year), and they've made 465,000 TAFE places fee-free, to give better opportunities for our young Australians. Regional Australians are being hit hard by stagnant wages and the rising cost of living, but I'll work hard every day to make sure nobody in this region is left behind.
Steve Attkins (Independent): We have privatised and "free traded" our world competitive advantage away. We need manufacturing in our country and need to add value to the raw materials we produce.
Mark Hornshaw (Liberal Democrats): The Liberal/National/Labor/Greens ruling coalition not only consumes a quarter of all national income, they have also run up a trillion dollars of debt with no plan to pay it off. The Liberal Democrats are the only party with a plan to reduce the size of government, leaving more in the hands of productive and honest people who together form the community. Our low, flat tax plan includes a tax free threshold of $40,000, and a 20% flat tax rate about that.
Josephine Cashman (Pauline Hanson's One Nation): It's outrageous that the government would have interest rates at zero, to disaffect the self-funded retirees into poverty. Governments should not borrow money because the taxpayers have to pay the interest. We're paying more than billion dollars a year in interest because of their spending. We should abolish electoral funding and use this $100 million to pay down their debt.
Karl Attenborough (The Greens): By making the billionaires and multinationals pay their fair share of tax, the Greens will restore free education (from early childhood, through to school, university and TAFE), defend and extend Medicare to make dental and mental health free and with an Affordable Housing Policy, build a million homes and give renters real rights..