Sunshine Coast Business Council Chair Sandy Zubrinich is urging voters to seriously consider the credentials of those candidates running for office in the local government elections this Saturday and to look beyond the voting placards and how-to-vote cards when making their decision.
“The main priority for the next elected councils within the region is to work smarter to find the balance between development, growth and the natural environment and I urge voters to elect candidates that can show true leadership in tackling this complex issue,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“If leadership is not already in the councillors’ job description, it should be. As our elected members, councillors must be capable of explaining complex issues to the community and be able to clearly explain the reasons for council’s decisions. It is my experience that too many can’t or don’t do this.”
“For those who attended the Sunshine Coast Daily Election Forums, they provided an excellent opportunity to see candidates present their policies and demonstrate their knowledge — or lack thereof — of local issues and community concerns.”
“While it’s useful to gain an understanding of a candidate’s character and background, I believe there was too much emphasis placed on platitudes such as ‘I love my region’ or ‘‘I am passionate about this region’. No matter how earnest, these are hardly qualifications for the role of councillor and the important thing for voters to remember is that it’s a candidate’s credentials, leadership experience and policies that matter.”
“Unfortunately there has been too little knowledge exhibited of the basic, yet key economic issues that face our region and I can only hope that people aren’t persuaded by platitudes and clichés but rather look behind these types of statements to the calibre of the person and the credentials they have to represent their constituents on our local councils.”
“I therefore encourage voters to do their research before casting their vote on Saturday and I particularly encourage younger voters to turn out and have their say. The decisions made now will impact on their future as well as the future of their children so it’s really important for the youth voice to be heard and represented within our councils.”
“The local media can be commended for their coverage in the lead up to this election and the information is available for those looking to get informed. It is also the responsibility of candidates to make themselves available — whether directly or via social media or email — to answer any questions constituents may have.”
“We have made some big mistakes in the past when electing our politicians and councillors. Let’s hope depth, knowledge, experience and integrity prevails this time round.”