Meet the Candidates (Clarence Electorate, NSW Election) at Dundurrabin on Sunday 15 March 2015

Run! There are terrorists on the NSW North Coast

He's also kept up the fight against the bats, which continue to terrorise a number of towns on the north coast. [http://www.nswnationals.org.au/chris_gulaptis]

On the NSW North Coast it is easy to spot the many ‘terrorists’ in our midst.

According to the NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, they all look like this:

Photograph from  http://www.bats.org.au/

And they are lurking with intent to terrorise.

Can't you just tell there's a state election in a little over five weeks time?

NSW State Election 2015: the Member for Clarence is whistling in the wind

Gulaptis playing dress ups for the media

As the NSW Premier has publicly backed failing Prime Minister Tony Abbott, this from the sitting Nationals Member for Clarence is pure wishful thinking as he seeks to distance himself from both the Liberal Party and Abbott:

THE Tony Abbott effect that has trimmed more than 10% off the conservative vote in NSW won't be a factor in the Clarence electorate says sitting National Party member Chris Gulaptis.

Yesterday Prime Minister Abbott fought off a move to force a leadership spill in his party room 61 votes to 39, but commentators are saying his worries are not over.

However, Mr Gulaptis said the instability in Canberra will not overly affect voters in Clarence who will go to the polls next month in the State Election.

"I've seen those polls that show the effect of the leadership issue on the state vote, but it doesn't really apply in Clarence," Mr Gulaptis said.

"There's no Liberal candidate here and the Nationals are distinct from the Libs and have different values….

Read the rest of The Daily Examiner article here.

One Queensland LNP state MP takes media lessons from Tony Abbott?

This is the most revealing political response to media questioning since Tony Abbott's silent head bobbing incident.

Here is Queensland LNP MP Ray Stevens in the Brisbane Times on 22 January 2015:

Seemingly unaware he was being filmed, Mermaid Ray flapped, waved and bopped his way through a reporter's question about his investment and consulting involvement in a $100 million Gold Coast cable car project.

Video by Independent Australia (Ray’s antics start at 2min 2sec point):

http://youtu.be/093UhTuZmPA?t=2m2s

Clarence Valley Council votes to abandon referendum on creating a popularly elected mayor - for now

Clarence Valley Council media release, 27 January 2015:

Council votes against February poll

PEOPLE eligible to vote in Clarence Valley Council elections will no longer be required to go to the polls on February 21.

A by-election was to be held on that date to fill a position left vacant by the death of Cr Jeremy Challacombe, who died with his wife Sue in a motor vehicle crash on the Pacific Highway last year.

A constitutional referendum was to be held at the same time to determine if the mayor was to be elected by popular vote or by a vote of his or her peers.

But when Arthur Lysaught was the only person to nominate for the vacant councillor position, he was declared elected and there was no need for a by-election.

Mayor, Cr Richie Williamson, said the referendum was to be held in conjunction with the by-election to save costs but when the by-election became unnecessary, the cost of a stand-alone referendum

was not justified.

At an extraordinary meeting late today, council determined it would not proceed with the referendum.

Cr Williamson said the decision was the right one.

“This decision has saved ratepayers many thousands of dollars,” he said.

The council’s decision does not affect the State election, planned for March 28.

For media inquiries contact:

David Bancroft Communications Coordinator 6643 0230

Referendum vote on establishing popular election of Clarence Valley Council mayor now unlikely to be held in 2015?

Arthur Lysaught in The Daily Examiner, 21 January 2015

On one level democracy lost out yesterday when the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) published the list of nominations for the one vacant councillor position in the Clarence Valley local government area by-election, because there was only one candidate on that list and therefore the election was cancelled.

That candidate is retired club manager and former one-year-and-a-bit councillor on the financially embarrassed former Grafton City Council, 62 year-old Arthur Francis Lysaught, (largely unknown along the Clarence Coast unless you like to bet on the horses) who by default now becomes a Clarence Valley councillor without facing scrutiny by the electorate.

Yet from another perspective democracy won, because the accompanying referendum on establishing that a mayor is to be elected by popular vote for four-year term may not go forward, because the NSWEC is highly unlikely to agree to proceed now there isn’t a by-election next month and the cost to council of a stand-alone referendum would be prohibitive.

Which means Clarence Valley voters will probably have more time to consider this question, as a new referendum cannot be scheduled until the general local government area elections in 2016 and, current mayor on a one-year term, Richie Williamson will not be able to run as a popular mayoral candidate until 2020.

Mayor Williamson has called an extraordinary council meeting for 27 January at which the status of this referendum will be discussed.

However, as one Lower Clarence resident remarked to me, it would not be a good look if councillors were to vote to still hold the referendum in 2015, with the very new, pro-popular election, councillor having no verifiable broad political support base within the electorate and also suspected of being a potential glove puppet of the mayor. 

Chris Davis publicly paying Queensland Premier Newman back or telling it like it is?

Former AMA Queensland President and former Liberal National Party MP Chris Davis - who quit the Queensland parliament in May 2014 and, subsequently the party, after being sacked from the ministry by Campbell Newman - delivers a blunt message during the state election campaign.

http://youtu.be/-3FrF7z76b8

Published on Jan 16, 2015

TV Ad featuring Dr Chris Davis, former Assistant Health Minister in the Newman LNP Government, expressing a scathing assessment of the LNP on several grounds, and calls for voters to not trust the LNP in the 2015 Queensland election

BACKGROUND

No Fibs 30 July 2014:

In March of 2014 he rose to prominence when he broke ranks with his government to defend public hospital doctors when new contracts were enforced with very little consultation. Initially seeking to be a go-between, he spoke at multiple rallies at which no other LNP MP dared to attend. Even during the most devastating of times when his daughter Jessica died in a road accident, Davis continued to front up at meetings to canvass doctor’s concerns and consult with one of the groups of Queenslanders he believed he could best represent.

Meanwhile, in the Queensland parliament, Premier Campbell Newman famously labeled these resistors “rabble-rousers”…..

By May of 2014 he’d been sacked from his assistant health portfolio but was battling his own party on a new front over the raising of the political donation declaration limit from $1000 to $12,400. Throughout his battles he’d always maintained a position of “judgement and conscience in the public interest”.

And then he was gone. A resignation on a slip of paper passed late one night to the Queensland Speaker of the House initiated a by-election for his seat of Stafford.....

NSW Premier Baird, Energy & Resources Minister Roberts and local MPs Gulaptis, George and Page are spinning the Northern Rivers a dishonest unconventional gas tale

This is the advertisement which appeared in local newspapers this month spinning the pro-coal seam gas line that the NSW Baird Government and National Party MPs in North Coast electorates would like us to believe.

The NSW Gas Plan is the government’s new strategic framework to protect our water and environment while delivering vital gas supplies for the state.

Our water resources are protected through the most comprehensive regulatory controls for the gas industry in the nation.

The NSW government has introduced important protections, including an Aquifer Interference Policy, code of practice for well integrity and fracture stimulation and banned the use of harmful volatile organic compounds, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX chemicals), and evaporation ponds.

The NSW Gas Plan is the next step. It outlines the path to achieving a world class system to protect our water, environment, critical agricultural land and communities.

The NSW government has adopted all the recommendations by the independent NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O’Kane, to ensure the new regulatory framework for the gas industry is based on science and is world’s best practice.

This new science-based regulatory framework adopts a strong compliance and enforcement regime, enhanced environmental monitoring, improved protections and benefits for landholders and communities.

The NSW Gas Plan introduces a new strategic release framework, which is a system that puts the government back in control of the release of title areas for exploration. 

This will allow the government to identify the most appropriate areas for exploration through a careful examination of economic, environmental and social factors with community consultation conducted up-front. 

Exploration for gas will be done on our terms.

The Environment Protection Authority, Office of Coal Seam Gas and the NSW Office of Water all monitor and supervise gas operations to ensure companies comply with the high engineering and environmental standards which now apply in NSW.

The independent Environment Protection Authority (EPA) will be proactive and fearless in its new role as the lead regulator for compliance and enforcement of conditions of approval for gas activities.

A project to provide baseline information about the state’s groundwater has been started by the government. The Groundwater Baseline Project is mapping and gathering data on the water used by agriculture, industry and mining.

This will ensure we have the critical data to ensure the use of our water is sustainable and available for future generations, while ensuring any changes to our water supplies are detected early.

The first areas to be analysed are the Gunnedah, Gloucester and Clarence Moreton basins. More information on these and other water projects are available from water.nsw.gov.au 

The NSW Gas Plan signals a new era for the gas industry and NSW. 

The government’s new science based regulatory framework protects our precious water and environment, ensures communities have a voice and we have a world-class regime to secure vital gas supplies for the state’s manufacturers, businesses and households that rely on gas every day.

For more information, please visit gasplan.nsw.gov.au

This is the reality for the Northern Rivers – under the NSW Gas Plan coal seam gas exploration tenements cover most of its land mass and span all its major river systems.

NSW Government Trade & Investment: Energy & Resources mapping as of 8 January 2015
Click on map to enlarge

The state government’s pro-coal seam gas advertisement states that; This new science-based regulatory framework adopts a strong compliance and enforcement regime, enhanced environmental monitoring, improved protections and benefits for landholders and communities. Actually there is no new science-based regulatory framework in place. This is something the Baird Government says it will start to put in place at an as yet unspecified time, which may possibly be in the second half of 2015.

It asserts Exploration for gas will be done on our terms as though this is a new and innovative stance. Mineral and petroleum mining within the state has always been done on the government of the day’s terms. The government’s right to decide is found in the NSW Constitution and state legislation, particularly the Mining Act 1992.

It goes on to say that the NSW government has adopted all the recommendations by the independent NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer. In fact the current NSW Gas Plan clearly shows it has not. 

In particular it has not fully explained the rationale/need for CSG extraction beyond a cursory attempt to talk about non-existent gas shortages and, the advertisement avoids that issue entirely.

The Baird Government’s gas plan certainly doesn’t fully encompass this recommendation in the NSW Chief Scientist’s September 2014 Final Report of the Independent Review of Coal Seam Gas Activities in NSW:

Recommendation 3

That Government investigate as a priority a range of practical measures for implementation (or extension of current measures) to allow affected communities to have strengthened protections and benefits including fair and appropriate:

• land access arrangements, including land valuation and compensation for landholders

• compensation for other local residents impacted (above threshold levels) by extraction activities

• funding (derived from the fees and levies paid by CSG companies) for local councils to enable them to fund, in a transparent manner, infrastructure and repairs required as a consequence of the CSG industry.

Nor is there any adequate mention of this:

Recommendation 4

That the full cost to Government of the regulation and support of the CSG industry be covered by the fees, levies, royalties and taxes paid by industry, and an annual statement be made by Government on this matter as part of the Budget process.

In fact where the gas plan briefly speaks of royalties, it does so in terms of ensuring that these are favourable to the advancement of the commercial interests of mining companies.

As for the recommended appropriate and proportionate penalties for non-compliance, apart from one 21-word 'motherhood' sentiment, the concept of penalties is missing in action.

The Liberal-Nationals broadly-worded Gas Plan also appears to deliberately avoid this statement contained in the Chief Scientist’s Independent Review:

There is a need to understand better the nature of risk of pollution or other potential short- or long-term environmental damage from CSG and related operations, and the capacity and cost of mitigation and/or remediation and whether there are adequate financial mechanisms in place to deal with these issues. This requires an investigation of insurance and environmental risk coverage, security deposits, and the possibility of establishing an environmental rehabilitation fund. Doing this is essential to ensure that

the costs and impacts from this industry are not a burden for the community.

A promise of community consultation conducted up-front is found in the advertisement, but the Gas Plan itself is silent about how and when this will occur in any instance.

The one thing I can say with certainty about the Baird Government’s intentions towards the Northern Rivers region is that its Gas Plan is nothing more than a document without force of law. It is a public statement of intent vaguely promising a fair go, which was obviously written with the March 2015 state election in mind.

* The Daily Examiner image courtesy of Yuraygir Coast and Range Alliance

Why the rest of Australia is hoping the 31 January 2015 ballot box delivers a fair go for Queenslanders

Once the age of digital news dawned it would be fair to say that a good many Australians began to know something of the politics (and the woes of long-suffering voters) in states other than their own.

Such is the case with Queensland.

However, many of their fellow citizens are not just hoping that Queenslanders get a a fair go and that Campbell Newman's regime dies at the state election ballot box on 31 January 2015 because of the personal, societal, economic, institutional and environmental damage the Liberal-National Party has inflicted

No, it's also because of an unhealthy political friendship. An association with the person and ideology of this man below, seen in too many photographs with Premier Newman for their bond to be ignored.

Click on image to enlarge

Brian Robins standing as an independant candidate for the Clarence electorate in March 2015 says he offers real choice

Photograph of Brian Robins from The Daily Examiner, 2 August 2014

Brian Robins media release, 18 November 2014:

LOCAL COMMUNITIES FIRST.

Former Clarence NSW State Emergency Service Executive Officer, Bryan Robins will stand as an Independent candidate for the Clarence Electorate in the 2015 State Election.
He said it was his disillusionment with the policies practised by the major parties that persuaded him to make his stand. "I feel disillusioned with this Government for its failure to deliver benefits to the Clarence electorate" he said.
"I'm also disgusted with the behaviour of a disturbing number of elected Members from both the Labor Party and the Liberal-National Coalition". ICAC has revealed disgraceful behaviour and standards that indicate that both sides are as guilty as each other"
"People have had enough of poor party representation and their arrogance."

Mr. Robins said a strength of standing as an Independent was he could take his instructions straight from the people in this Electorate. " I don't have to ring head office in Sydney to be told how I'm supposed to feel about every issue. The locals will advise me and their views will be represented"
He said he had impeccible credentials as an Independent. "I've never been a member of a political party, I don't own any shares and Iv'e never been aligned to any faction or political interest group"

Mr' Robins moved to the Clarence Valley in 1982 to commence duties as the Executive Officer for what is now the Clarence-Nambucca Region of the SES, a position he served for over 20 years. Over those years I was privileged to develop close working relationships with communities across the Electorate.
"I had a senior Emergency Management role and I witnessed the electorate experience major floods, severe storms, bush fires and drought, man-made disasters....even a tornado in Tucabia"

Iv'e seen the area at it's best and also when under severe threat, and I have always admired the strength and resillience of the Community and its fierce determination to protect what we all recognise as one of the wonderful places to call home."

Mr. Robins has already announced his opposition to CSG mining in the Clarence Electorate. "Rightly so, the local communities simply don't want it"
He also encouraged the anti CSG Lobby to continue it's fight. I'm hopeful I can help them and join with them to continue to voice the message loud and clear" 
"It is already a huge issue"

"I look forward to meet with as many groups and individuals as possible in the coming months. I invite them to contact me"
For the time being, please phone 6642 8473 or email bryanandkerry@outlook.com.

NSW North Coast Nationals issue a misleading media release on the future of the gas industry in the region

Australia’s oil and gas industry welcomes the NSW Government’s recognition that the state is facing an avoidable energy security problem and that policy must change to encourage supply. [Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association, media release,13 November 2014]

NSW National Party MPs Thomas George, Don Page, Chris Gulaptis and Geoff Provest issued this media release on 13 November 2014, misleadingly titled NEW POLICY PROVIDES FRAMEWORK FOR A GASFIELD FREE NORTHERN RIVERS.

New Policy Provides Framework for a Gasfield Free Northern Rivers

Unfortunately the Baird Coalition Government’s policy does not guarantee any such framework; almost all of the Northern Rivers is still vulnerable and parts of the region could still become designated gasfields and existing exploration and/or production licences could still be progressed by mining companies currently operating on the state's north coast.

This NSW Dept. of Energy and Resources map gives the lie to the George, Gulaptis, Provest and Page claim that we are on a Coalition road to a Gasfield Free Northern Rivers:

Petroleum (coal seam gas) exploration licences remain from the NSW-Qld border down into the Clarence Valley.

Of the 16 petroleum title applications which are being expunged by the Baird Government, only two are on the North Coast.

Application Identifier, Application Number, and Application Date:

PELA 130 16 December 2009 (1 block about 51 km SW of Lismore held by Metgasco Limited)

PELA 135 31 March 2011

PELA 137 12 March 2012

PELA 144 28 November 2012

PELA 146 22 February 2013

PELA 147 22 February 2013

PELA 148 27 February 2013

PELA 150 11 November 2013

PELA 151 11 November 2013

PELA 152 11 November 2013

PSPAPP 48 15 December 2009 (1 block about 41 km SW of Lismore held by Clarence Moreton Resources Pty Limited)

PSPAPP 54 21 November 2011

PSPAPP 56 22 February 2012

PSPAPP 57 22 February 2012

PSPAPP 62 21 June 2013

PSPAPP 63 6 December 2013

The Northern Star 14 November 2014:

Gasfield Free Northern Rivers co-ordinator Elly Bird said the announcement provided no protection for the Northern Rivers and did not acknowledge the community opposition to the industry.

"It's also very misleading of the NSW Government to say they have accepted all 16 recommendations of the Chief Scientist, when they've done no such thing," Ms Bird said.

Bentley farmer Meg Nielson said the community would stand up and protect their land until the licences were cancelled.

"Our community wholeheartedly rejects the industrialisation of our landscapes, and landholders across the Northern Rivers remain united in their complete rejection of unconventional gas extraction. We are bitterly disappointed that the government is still not listening to us," she said.

I suggest that Northern Rivers residents take the time to read the actual Liberal-Nationals policy document here and, ask questions of Resources Minister Anthony Roberts before casting their vote in the March 2015 state election.

The NSW Nationals MP for Clarence is not happy when heckled by anti-gasfields protestors

First term NSW Nationals Member for Clarence, former property developer and former Clarence Valley shire councillor, Chris Gulaptis, is a little hot under the collar if ABC News on 31 October 2014 is reading him correctly:

The Clarence MP says he'll sue anyone who suggests he has improper ties to the coal seam gas industry.

Chris Gulpatis said he was recently confronted by someone alleging he had a conflict of interest due to time working with a company known for its CSG work.

Mr Gulpatis worked as a surveyor for LandPartners in 2006.

But he said he never worked on CSG projects.

"Well the Chris Gulaptis that worked for LandPartners as a consultant is me, but the Chris Gulaptis who worked on any CSG projects is total fabrication and lie," Mr Gulaptis said.

He said if rumours continue to circulate about CSG connections, he'll get legal advice.

"Well, I have no ties with the industry and I get very frustrated when they spread lies and innuendo and make false allegations and I would just advise people to be very careful if they do so and they impugn my reputation then I will have no hesitation in seeking a defamation action against them," he said.

Mr Gulaptis accused his critics of spreading rumours based on a 'Google' search.

"What astounds me is people have not researched my background and they come up with these false allegations and I really have to question how much they have researched the CSG industry.

"Clearly if they are fabricating stories about me I would suggest they probably fabricating stories about the CSG industry as well, I mean GOOGLE can find you a million answers," Mr Gulaptis said.

The Daily Examiner 4 November 2014:

Mr Gulaptis said a protester stationed outside his Prince St office loudly accused him of having worked for a company with links to coal seam gas mining.

He did not deny having worked for LandPartners as a surveyor until 2006 but said his job never involved in any CSG operations.

The accusations have since made their way to Facebook.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's nothing but gossip and malicious lies," he said.

"I'm a surveyor - that's my profession - and I worked for LandPartners as a consultant.

"It certainly had nothing to do with the CSG industry and I ceased working for them in 2006

"At that stage, I had never even heard of CSG and I certainly didn't work on any CSG projects."

It would appear that Mr. Gulaptis did not enjoy being heckled by someone who questioned his 2006-2007 work history with Land Partners Limited (formerly Aspect North & KFM Partnership) – a company involved in the planning, design and construction phases of the Eastern Gas Pipeline in 1999-2000.

One has to wonder if he was also questioned about his time at as a senior operations manager for Brazier Motti Pty Ltd engineering and mining surveyors in Mackay, Queensland commencing around 2009 and presumably finishing when he won NSW Nationals pre-selection for the Clarence by-election in 2011.

A position he used to enthusiastically support the mining industry:

After enjoying some time overseas, Chris moved back to Australia when a job opportunity became available in Mackay.
"I was so happy to get involved back into a community where mining was big again," he said.

“We believe the wider Mackay region has a buoyant future in terms of attracting substantial investment in the areas of property development, mining and resources and public infrastructure,” Mr Gulaptis said . “Mining has underpinned the region's economy for a long time and now the Federal Government's Nation Building infrastructure projects will provide the impetus to sustain Mackay through the current economic downturn.”

Theappointment of Mr Gulaptis marks the completion of Brazier Motti's seniormanagement team.

The Mackay region includes the Abbot Point coal port and the town has coal seam gas exploration tenements to its west, as well as some of its businesses servicing the gas industry.

When he unsuccessfully stood for the NSW federal seat of Page in 2007 Chris Gulaptis openly supported the coal seam gas industry and Metgaso Limited:

By 2012 he was in favour of Metgasco establishing a commercial tight gas¹  field in the Clarence Valley.

ABC News 26 September 2012:

A mining company with gas exploration licences for the Clarence Valley has just signed a multi million dollar deal with an energy company.

The almost $3 million dollar agreement between Red Sky Energy and ERM Power will fund drilling of up to nine gas wells.

Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis said as far as he knows it is not a coal seam gas exploration project.

"On the surface they are talking about conventional gas, I think that's a good thing," he said.

"They're talking about domestic use, I think that's a good thing.

"I think the fact that the NSW government has at long last put some regulations in place to monitor the gas industry is also a good thing.

"So it all comes together at the right time."

Mr Gulaptis said he is not yet sure how big the local gas reserve is, or what the lifespan of the project is.

"I'm not sure about the extent of the resource is but clearly with a heavy investment there must be some confidence that the resource is fairly extensive," he said.

"It could be a good thing if it is a sustainable project which delivers gas to our domestic market."

Although from time to time in recent years Mr. Gulaptis has made mild media statements opposing coal seam gas mining in the Northern Rivers region, he has only spoken on the issue twice in state parliament in three years.

The first time on 20 June 2013 he stated; I am neither for nor against coal seam gas. He is also part of a government which has renewed two of Metgasco Limited's coal seam gas exploration licences and granted the company a production licence.

He supports the idea of designated gasfields being established within the state.

One doesn't know what Chris Gulaptis said to pro-CSG Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane in October 2013, when he attended a Canberra meeting along with fellow Nationals NSW MP Thomas George and Federal MP Kevin Hogan, Peter Henderson and Stuart George from Metgasco, a representative of ERM (a major Metgasco shareholder), the head of Geoscience Australia, Richmond Valley Council General Manager John Walker, the head of Richmond Valley Water Users Group,  NORCO chair Greg McNamara, dairy farmer Leigh Sherman, tourism operator and marine biologist Wendy Craig Duncan, Regional Co-ordinator for the Lock the Gate Alliance Ian Gaillard and Bentley landholder Peter Graham.

However, after this meeting the minister was reported as stating that; the majority opinion expressed at this meeting was that the CSG industry should operate within the framework set out by the NSW government including the buffer zone, while also meeting any conditions set out by the NSW chief scientist and where farmers agree to have CSG on their land.

That Mr. Gulaptis has chosen to issue a statement threatening legal action indicates that he is both acutely aware of community sentiment against the gas industry and sensitive about his own history in the lead up to the March 2015 state election.

This move may yet backfire on him as this Facebook post shows:

1. The term “tight gas sands” refers to low permeability sandstone reservoirs that produce primarily dry natural gas. A tight gas reservoir is one that cannot be produced at economic flow rates or recover economic volumes of gas unless the well is stimulated by a large hydraulic fracture treatment and/or produced using horizontal wellbores (Holditch, 2006). Tight gas includes basin-centred gas systems, defined by Law (2002) as low-permeability, gas-saturated reservoirs that are abnormally pressured, regionally pervasive, and lack down-dip water contacts. [SA Government Dept of State Development]

Candidate in Labor's Ballina community preselection pledges to reject political donations from gas industry, science deniers, unethical companies & banks

Keith Williams Media Release 29 August 2014:

Keith Williams, candidate in Labor's Ballina community preselection, has announced self-imposed rules on donations and fundraising to address what he calls the disturbing influence of money in politics.

In what he claims is an Australian first, Mr Williams has published a campaign budget, excluded a wide range of potential donors and limited the maximum donation he will accept to $500 per person.

"We must end this preoccupation with raising funds so we can outspend our political opponents. It's a cancer. Instead of being a contest of ideas, politics is reduced to a battle of marketing budgets."

He said the continuing revelations of the Independent Commission Against Corruption had made him stop and think before deciding to put his hand up for preselection. "Did I really want to enter a world where your ability to raise funds is seemingly more important than your contribution to public debate? I decided I would, but on my terms."

Mr Williams says publishing his Ethics Policy before commencing fundraising was an important first step. "It's about taking personal responsibility and saying I won't be a part of that system."

"I'm not so naive as to think I can campaign without funds, so I have set clear rules around what I believe is acceptable." 

"I don't believe anyone should be running for public office and accepting donations from a business or person that could benefit from their influence.  Voters need to know that you are beholden to them and them alone."

"My own sense of ethics also tells me that I don't want to accept donations from those that abuse vulnerable people, cause ill-health or environmental destruction, lie or cheat. Defining what I meant by that was probably the hardest part of the whole process"

Mr Williams believes people are heartily sick of seeing politicians quote the law when challenged about their behaviour. He cites the recent example of Joe Hockey claiming $270 a night in expenses to stay in a Canberra house owned by his wife. "It may be legal, but it certainly isn't ethical."

"There are a lot of things I'd like to achieve in politics.  Better care for those with mental illness, ridding our ocean of plastic and creating sustainable jobs in this community are just a few of the things on my list. But unless we insist on higher ethical standards in politics we will be fighting the carpetbaggers and rent seekers every step of the way."

"The advantage of community preselections, such as this one for Ballina, is that is gives candidates an opportunity to talk about issues like ethics, without the usual "he said, she said" of party political debate. 

"This is an exciting time to be a member of the Labor Party. Things are changing. You can feel it. I'm proud to be a part of that change."

Voting in the Ballina preselection opens on Monday.

Ethics

I am standing for election because I want to change what is happening to politics in Australia.
Ethics is not about the Law. It's about personal responsibility and values.
These are my ethics and values.

Ethical Conduct Policy

This policy outlines my personal commitment to electors.  It will govern the conduct of my campaign for Labor Party Preselection and, if successful, as the Labor Party Candidate for the state seat of Ballina. It is also my commitment to electors if I am bestowed the honour of representing the electorate in Parliament.

My Pledge

I shall at all times act with honesty and integrity.
I will do no favours nor accept any gifts that may create a future obligation.
I shall speak out against corruption. I will remember, "The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept".  I will not remain silent, regardless of who it is.
I will respect my community. I will work with the community and its representatives to develop practical solutions to the problems we face.
I will respect community choices. Ballina and Byron (and our many other towns) are different communities and have different needs and priorities. I will remember that we don't all want the same thing.
I will conduct myself politely and with consideration for others at all times.

My Commitments

To ensure a transparent approach to all fundraising activities.
To comply with all electoral funding law requirements.
To comply with all Labor Party Rules regarding fundraising.
To provide certainty to electors that their representative is beholden to them and them alone.
To enable sufficient funds to be raised to inform electors of the principles, values and policies I represent.
To run an election campaign that focuses on ideas to improve our community, meet the needs of the vulnerable, ensure that good quality health and education are available to all, create employment and protect our environment.

My Rules

In addition to any and all other NSW legal requirements* the campaign will:

• Not accept donations greater than $500 in any one instance or from one individual in total. 
• Not accept donations from any company or associated persons that are reliant on a Government (Local, State or Federal) Lease or Licence for its primary business operation.
• Eg. Mining & Petroleum, Banks, Operators of Utilities (power & water), Commercial Fishers, Forestry, Licensed tourism operators in Public Spaces (National Parks), etc.
• Not accept donations from any company or associated persons that are engaged in unethical conduct that contributes to:
• The inhumane treatment of vulnerable people,
• Human ill health and suffering,
• Destruction or pollution of the habitat of threatened species,
• The denial of science and basic fact, or
• Other misleading or deceptive conduct.

*Developers, Gambling & Tobacco interests are already excluded.  Other suggested exclusions are welcome. 
Any amounts received in excess of the above limits or that can not be verified as complying with the above exclusions will be forwarded to the Ballina Branch of St Vincent De Paul to use at their discretion to assist people experiencing homelessness.

My Campaign 

The campaign will focus on the issues and ideas relevant to our community. No resources will be directed towards negative advertising targeting political opponents.
The total Preselection Campaign budget is $4,000 comprising;
Printed materials, including flyers $1000
Community Radio Sponsorships $800
Ads in local newspapers $800
Signage     $500
Volunteer supplies  $500
Venue hire    $400
This budget will be subject to change.  An up to date version of the budget will be maintained on the Ethics Page on my website at www.keithwill.com
This Policy is open for comment and revision. If I have missed something, please let me know via email at: keith@keithwill.com 

Keith Williams

Candidate

Ballina Community Preselection

Australian Labor Party

www.keithwill.com