Cr Richard Foley (second from right) has announced a ticket of five candidates for this year’s local government elections, including (from left) Wayne Deaner, Dr Shahnaz Akter and Chris Kanck. Alisha Watkins is also a candidate. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Advocacy for public housing and a men’s health centre topped the agenda as Wagga councillor Richard Foley announced a full ticket for this year’s local government elections.
The four other candidates on Cr Foley’s ticket are Chris Kanck, Dr Shahnaz Akter, Wayne Deaner and Alisha Watkins.
Cr Foley said local governments were ”at an interesting nexus in time” leading up to the September poll. After having completed his first term as a councillor, he said he would look to continue advocating for the needs of Wagga if re-elected.
“The city is about to move into a new phase of development,” he said.
“It’s critical that this new council focuses on the progressive growth of the city. That’s why I’m really protesting and standing again, and I have a good team with me to support me.
“The public has certain expectations on how the council should work. It can be very difficult to get things progressing quickly, that is just the nature of how I’ve found things since being a part of WWCC for the last two and a half years.
”Now that I know how the ropes work, I’m very keen to pursue a progressive economic platform for the city that I’ve long been focusing on.”
Asked which major projects and issues he would prioritise if re-elected, Cr Foley said he would strive to form a public housing trust to better suit the housing needs of the community.
“I’ve long talked about forming a public housing trust, based for the community’s benefit and to put an economic base back to council,” he said.
“This is not social housing. This is public housing. There’s a big difference.”
Cr Foley also explained that he would advocate for men’s mental health in the form of a dedicated centre.
“I believe men’s health issues are significant in this community,” he said.
“We’re being called as men collectively to address the issue and I think we need a very comprehensive hub.”
Sitting third on Cr Foley’s ticket is Dr Akter, who wants to see more medical support for children in the region.
“My focus is on the kids of Wagga Wagga,” Dr Akter said.
“We have lots of issues with providing adequate services, particularly kids who have special needs like speech therapy or occupational therapy. We don’t have enough and it takes too long to see a pediatrician, with waiting times of six to 12 months.”
Meanwhile, Wayne Deaner, who sits fourth on the ticket, wants the public to have more clarity about the crime affecting the city.
“We need the public to start reporting more,” he said.
“We need to pick up our statistics on crime happening around our town. There’s a stigma that, ‘Oh, the police aren’t going to do anything’ or ‘I don’t want to trouble them,’ and as a result they’re not being informed.
“If we boost the community awareness, we can get more police officers and get more funding for the city to run more programs as well.”
The 2024 NSW local government elections will be held on 14 September.
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