There is less then a week until voting closes for the 2022 Federal Election and we are talking to Kennedy candidates about the issues of North West Queensland.
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The North West Star has sent eight questions to all candidates asking for their specific plans or policies to North West issues and their responses are to compare below.
Greens candidate Jennifer Cox, tell me a little bit about yourself.
I grew up on the Atherton Tablelands and studied Psychology and History at JCU Townsville. After working in Marketing and Advertising in Sydney and Brisbane. I moved back to the Tablelands when I had my first child. I now run my own Web design and Marketing business at home.
My family and I are very involved in this community - my kids go to the local school, my husband works at a local business and I am in my local Chamber. I'm also a coach at the Local Roller Derby club, where I teach kids and adults to skate.
Why should people invest in the North West?
We really are very lucky to live in a region with such a great lifestyle. When I wanted to have a family, we returned here to give our children the childhood we had, in the most beautiful place with the best lifestyle in the world. I want our region to stay as beautiful and prosperous as it is today, and I want my children and grandchildren to have a promising future.
What are your specific projects to develop Northern Australia?
The Greens have a fully-costed national plan to replace coal and gas with renewable energy by 2030, revive Australia's manufacturing industry and transform the electricity grid, with massive economic and job creation opportunities for Northern Australia.
We'll support workers who transition out of coal by guaranteeing free retraining and a new job at the same pay for 10 years. The best job for a coal miner is another mining job, and our $15 billion "Made in Australia" fund to invest in critical minerals and green metals processing will help create those jobs.
What commitment can you make to curb the crime wave in Mount Isa?
The current justice system isn't working. We need a new approach that works with families and communities to address the root causes of crime, not just the symptoms. The Greens will push to bring mental health into Medicare, make education free and build more affordable homes to increase security and prosperity for families at risk of offending.
Our policy also treats drugs as a health issue, rather than a criminal one, legalising cannabis and doubling Commonwealth funding for AOD treatment so we can see the extent of the problem and get people the care they need.
OTHER CANDIDATES:
What incentives will you provide to curb housing shortage?
The Greens' plan is to build one million new publicly-owned, affordable, high-quality and sustainable homes.
Built over 20 years, 875,000 of these will be public and community housing, 125,000 will be universal access rentals with rent capped at 25% of income, and 125,000 will fall under Greens' innovative shared equity ownership scheme, enabling people to own their first home for just $300,000.
We'll fund it by properly taxing billionaires and scrapping handouts to property speculators, so we can clear public housing waiting lists, make housing more affordable and ensure everyone has a roof over their head.
There are renewable businesses waiting on the development of CopperString 2.0, what's your timeline for CopperString and what steps will you take to encourage growth of renewable in the area?
Our plan would establish a new publicly owned transmission company, the FutureGrid fund, with $25 billion equity to purchase key interconnectors, open up Renewable Energy Zones and transform the grid by 2027.
We'd transform Snowy Hydro into a wholesale clean energy generator, to invest $40 billion in building over 25 gigawatts of wind, solar, battery and off-river pumped hydro.
By investing properly in a mix of renewable energy and storage, we can replace coal, provide peak power performance and good solid jobs, and make electricity cheaper with a publicly owned grid for all Australians.
What are your specific projects to support the agriculture industry?
Because the Greens refuse corporate donations, we don't answer to the likes of Coles and Woolworths. We can fight to break up this duopoly, stop them gouging consumers and help farmers get the price for their produce that they deserve. Big corporations have made huge profits during the pandemic, while the rest of us suffered.
We'll also push for free TAFE and university to train more ag workers, and to reinstate the $25M/year Carbon Farming Futures grants scheme, assisting growers to implement sustainable and regenerative agricultural systems and practices which can reduce input costs from synthetic fertilisers and herbicides.
There are daycare shortages/long wait times across the North West, what measures will you take to alleviate it?
In the balance of power, the Greens will fight to make free universal childcare available to every family, with $200M in grant funding for capital works or additional staff, to reduce waiting lists and create more places at community and non-profit centres, especially in high-need areas.
Will also increase pay for childcare workers by guaranteeing CPI + 0.5% wage increases, and make uni free, to attract more people to the workforce.
As with all of our plans, our childcare initiative is fully, independently costed, and funded by finally making billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share of tax.
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