Independent candidate Richard Foley reckons there’s an opportunity for “real change” in Wagga if some new faces get elected to council.
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The 47-year-old independent recently contested the federal election to raise his profile and managed to out-poll The Greens’ Kevin Poynter, securing 6.2 per cent of the primary vote.
Why are you running for public office so soon after your last political campaign?
I wanted to run for local government initially but to be frank I had to get a profile. If you want to be a representative of the community you want to start at the local level first.
I’m of the belief as an independent that people needed a choice and I was pretty happy with the end result.
You exchanged some heated words with Wagga Business Chamber during the federal election. How do you feel about the chamber now?
The whole issue was not with the management of the chamber but the board but that’s water under the bridge. We need business and in fact one of my primary platforms is construction and development and the other is the Wokolena Racetrack, which could bring millions for business across the town and attract developers and manufacturing jobs.
Why are you running as an independent and not on any group tickets?
I’m totally against political parties running for local government and I’m against the idea of tickets as well. It should be “one person, one vote”. If you get in there with a political party, if a candidate wants to do something but the organisation says “no” it’s not done. That goes against the will of the people.
We need independent voices who are dedicated to communities and who are from all levels of the community, not just business people but workers.
What are the biggest issues Wagga faces?
Youth and aged care development, roads, capital finance and debt. Debt and money is at the root of all problems in politics.
We need to work on how to keep young people here and foster their skills, but we also have a lot of baby boomers and we need to improve things for the elderly too.
I’m also advocating to get another jet patcher to fix some more potholes.
You’re big on technology, do you think Wagga should have free wifi in the CBD?
I don’t see what’s wrong with it as long as it’s not exorbitantly expensive.
Part of my platform is my online voting app for local issues, I greatly believe in technology.
Stephen Mudd
Stephen Mudd is a journalist for Fairfax Media west of the great divide. He loves music, dogs and travel.
Stephen Mudd is a journalist for Fairfax Media west of the great divide. He loves music, dogs and travel.
