THE Greens candidate for Albury, who lives in Sydney, admits he doesn’t have “precise local knowledge” but he believes policies are more important than where a candidate resides.
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Colin Hesse officially launched his campaign at Albury’s Hovell Tree Park yesterday afternoon, having spent Saturday door-knocking and yesterday morning manning a stall at the market in the tax office car park.
He is one of six candidates squaring off in Albury for the NSW election and he will be trying to at least match the 7.27 per cent won by Albury-based candidate Chris Sobey in 2007.
“I think there are a lot of people out there who want a progressive and optimistic view of society and I think the Greens offer that and the Labor Party has actually betrayed that progressive view of society,” he said.
It was an “excuse” not to vote for him because he lives 550 kilometres away and “the key issue is policies”.
“It’s nice to have people you know, there’s no doubt about that; it’s nice to have good people and friendly people and honest people,” he said.
“In fact it’s vital to have honest people but ultimately it’s about the policies.
“I mean I’ve lived in NSW all my life, I’ve lived in regional NSW as well as Sydney.
“I grew up in regional NSW, I’ve worked as an adult in regional NSW, I’ve gained my education in regional NSW as a mature-aged student, in that sense I’m aware of the issues, but I will listen.
“I don’t have that precise local knowledge, but I’ve been a local government councillor and the most important thing I learnt out of that was that you have to listen to your community.”
Water concerns, gay marriage, the clean-green image of agriculture and jobs had been discussed with him.
He would not be preferencing any candidate.
