Labor for Wagga’s Peita Vincent, Tim Kurylowicz, Amelia Parkins and Mark Jeffreson will run in the September NSW local government elections. Photo: Chris Roe.
Wagga Deputy Mayor Amelia Parkins is getting in early and has announced her ‘Labor for Wagga’ ticket ahead of the NSW local government elections on 14 September.
An architect with a background in heritage conservation and project management, Cr Parkins was one of five first-time councillors elected in 2021 and became deputy mayor in September last year.
“I’ve had a really excellent couple of years on council. It’s been more rewarding than I ever thought it would be,” she said while announcing her decision to seek reelection.
“I think Wagga’s at a really pivotal point in time. We’ve got a housing crisis and council’s doing a heap of work in the strategic planning area, which I’m really proud to have put to the front of the agenda.”
As the city grapples with a growing population, Cr Parkins said her experience in urban design is an asset in planning and finding a balance between the built environment and open spaces.
“Wagga is aiming to get to [a population of] 100,000 by 2040, so making sure that we get all of those planning decisions and processes in place is going to be really important,” she said.
“We’ve got a big issue at the moment … with the time that it’s taking to get developments approved, so everything from the assessment offices to the policies that they’re using to assess, I think are really important things to move forward.”
Deputy Mayor Amelia Parkins is heading up the Labor ticket along with former federal candidate Tim Kurylowicz. Photo: Chris Roe.
The party-aligned ticket includes former federal Labor candidates Tim Kurylowicz and Mark Jeffreson, along with Peita Vincent and Steve Dale, who have also been active in local politics and community advocacy.
With Labor governments at the state and federal level, Cr Parkins said it is all the more important to maintain a connection at the local level.
“We’ve got a lot of big issues facing Wagga at the moment like the Inland Rail and the lease for the airport where I think it would be a great opportunity to be able to have a Labor voice on council to have those meaningful conversations at both the state and the federal level,” she said.
“The good thing about having an active local Labor branch is that we do have those great relationships with the relevant ministers and we can make a phone call and have a conversation.”
‘Labor for Wagga’ has already been out and about listening to the community ahead of September’s local government elections. Photo: Supplied.
Dr Kurylowicz will be listed second on the ticket and said the team is keen to get out and hear directly from the community.
“Council has to be an organisation that not only is future-focused, it needs to be accountable to the people and I think it’s really important that the councillors make themselves available to the community,” he said.
“That’s why we’re running early. We were out last weekend, and we’ll be out again many times over the coming months to be in public places, available for people to talk to us and share their vision, their hopes, and make sure that they give us the details of what’s happening in their neighbourhood so that we can be advocates for them.”
After a relatively short time as deputy mayor, Cr Parkins said that she has a growing appreciation of the council’s role in the grassroots community.
“I always knew that Wagga was a wonderful place full of wonderful people, but I’m not sure that I really grasped just how diverse and how important some of the events are that council is involved in are,” she said.
“Being deputy mayor has really opened my eyes to the breadth of activities that do go on in our city, particularly the … volunteer base that council supports in every area that we can.”
Cr Parkins said they hoped to maintain at least two seats for Labor and said that she would “be honoured and privileged” to return to the role of deputy mayor if reelected.
“It’s been a wonderful few months being in that role and working with the current mayor, Dallas Tout,” she said, but would not be drawn on whether she would support Cr Tout to retain the role.
“I think Wagga is fairly unique in the situation where it’s the elected body that elects the mayor and the deputy mayor,” she said.
“Until we know who the councillors are, and what the field is, and what each person can offer, I don’t think I’ll comment on who would be best placed to take that position.”
The local government elections in NSW will be held on Saturday 14 September.
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