State election 2019: Port Stephens independent candidate Bill Doran likens campaign to "David confronting Goliath"
DAVID VS GOLIATH: Independent candidate for the seat of Port Stephens Bill Doran.
The Port's sole Independent candidate, who has likened his campaign to "David confronting Goliath", has come out swinging against the major parties in light of their ongoing announcements and billboard signs.
Bill Doran, a first-time state candidate from Tanilba Bay, accused the major parties of having no vision beyond their four-year terms and was critical of how they want to be judged on their "promises" not their past records.
He said that neither party had served regional NSW well.
"When I and almost every other working Australian goes for their annual performance appraisal, the employer doesn't what to hear what you promise to do, they look at what you've done over the previous year," he said.
"If you've done your job and hit your goals you're all good, if not you could find yourself open to new employment options. This is how the government should be judged."
Mr Doran believes that both sides of parliament had failed in relation to the duplication of Nelson Bay Road.
"At one stage or another both major parties have pledged to do this duplication only to have done enough so they could say, 'look at what we did'. I say 'bollocks', both parties have let the electorate down. Let's get it done," he said.
"The Medowie high school is a no-brainer. There is a need and the next government needs to act. Why not look outside the box and create a joint venture between Medowie high school, the University of Newcastle and TAFE NSW?"
In relation to the Liberals' $7 million TAFE announcement for Nelson Bay, Mr Doran, who is employed by TAFE, accused the government of not providing enough money to maintain the existing TAFE facilities, "so why would they build a new one in the Bay?"
"I know of teachers using their own money for items and doing TAFE work in their own time so the students aren't inconvenienced. There are cracks in buildings, electrical problems are so bad in one workshop that power must be turned off to wash it out and the toilets back up and have the bouquet of an open sewer on a daily basis."
Mr Doran described how his feeling of insufficiency begun to roll over him during a trip into Raymond Terrace.
"Every corner I turned there was Kate Washington or Jaimie Abbott smiling politely from someone's front yard or fence. They must literally have dozens of these signs around the electorate, then on the way home along Richardson Road in Salt Ash I really understood how important Port Stephens has become to the Berejiklian government," he said.
"The Liberals have purchased a billboard on the side of the road, which got me to thinking how do they afford it?.
"Of course I understand that candidates for the major parties have the benefit of their respective political machines and donors behind them but I didn't realise the extent that the public purse is used to fund their campaigns.
"I can claim back any campaign expenditure which meets the requirements laid down by the NSW Electoral Commission. One of those requirements is that I must get 4 per cent of the first preference votes. Also as an Independent, I need to get a minimum of 25 registered voters from the electorate to nominate me so that I can get on to the ballot paper along with paying the electoral commission $1000.
"Candidates for any recognised party most likely don't need to do any of this because the party does it for them, which leaves them to campaign."
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