Candidates for Upper Hunter Shire local government elections 2016

The Scone Advocate asked each of the Upper Hunter Shire’s 13 candidates two questions to help residents to decide their vote.

The questions were: 

- Why should Upper Hunter residents vote for you on September 10?

- What are you hoping to achieve/what are the issues that concern you most?

Here is Kiwa Fisher’s response:

Question 1: It’s been a great privilege to serve you on Council these past four years. I’ve learnt a great deal about the size and scope of Council’s operations and the shire in general, met many people I’d not otherwise have met and made many new friends along the way.

While Council’s made progress in many areas, there’s much more hard work remaining to be done across a range of issues and I’m keen to be on the team that does it.

Question 2: I still believe the most serious issue we face is the expansion of coal mining and CSG into our magnificent shire, and the threat they pose our established rural industries.

This belief is longstanding and consistent and I’m pleased to have made a major contribution to the updating and strengthening of Council’s Position Statement on Coal and CSG, which now clearly states our opposition to both within the shire.

I’m unwavering in my opposition to their introduction, including the two proposed open cut mines near Aberdeen and the ongoing folly at Bickham.

While we’ve made some progress with Tourism, there’s more to do. Finally we have the branding, “Come On Up!”, that we so badly needed and can now promote our shire and events more effectively.

The Expressway has brought us closer to Sydney and we need to take advantage of that. I still believe Glenbawn has significant unlocked potential and I’ll continue to advocate for improvements there.

Four years on, still discussing the bypass! I understand the frustration, but we must temper our impatience, persevere and keep fighting for the best solution possible.

While each design’s an improvement on the last, we’re not there yet so let’s do all we can to get it right, it’ll be worth it in the end.

Thank you, please Vote 1 Kiwa Fisher.

Local pre-polling locations and dates include: