Public art accounts for 0.08 per cent of council expenditure. Are your claims of reckless spending on public art overblown?

No.

There's too much money set aside for public art (currently $239,309) that can't be touched while worthy projects go unfunded. 

It's not about shutting down public art, it's sharing public money around.

Can you blame pothole-plagued roads on rain alone or does council cut corners building and maintaining them?

I blame the wet winter for the current situation, but I don’t believe we’re building roads correctly.

Around central Wagga particularly, there is yellow clay under the surface, which is like a big sponge and causes the roads to move.

Also, we have a roads maintenance budget shortfall to the tune of about $9 million – money council simply does not have – and we must challenge the state government for a bigger slice of the pie. 

What are the biggest issues Wagga faces?

We have to do more with less and with fiscal responsibility comes keeping rates at affordable level.

It’s no longer acceptable to say our roads are suffering from growing pains, we need vision and planning to build infrastructure before we allow building. 

We need to grow the city into higher areas and stop concentrating on putting more density into the CBD.

We need to cut red tape and get bureaucracy out of the way to encourage small and big business alike. 

What have you done in the past four years as a councillor to justify re-election?

I've put up between 15 and 20 motions and reports that I've personally written and submitted, such as stopping coal seam gas, reducing red tape and the costs to business for using footpaths, and self-regulation of septic systems on farms.

I was instrumental in creating the Douglas Aerospace review committee, which brought the fiasco to a conclusion.

Do you play the media game to raise your profile?

No I don't.

Some would say so, they call me the human headline, but if someone asks me a question I will give them an answer.