Voting in Hume

Hume candidates

Order of ballot:

1. Greg Baines, ALP

2. Garry Dollin, United Australia Party

3. Rebecca Thompson, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation

4. Sheneli Meneripitiyage Dona, Independent

5. Ross Seller, Shooter, Fishers and Farmers Party

6. Karen Stewart, The Greens NSW

7. Angus Taylor, Liberal (incumbent)

8. Joaquim De Lima, Liberal Democratic Party

9. Penny Ackery, Independent

When voters go to the polls on Saturday, May 21, they will be deciding who will be their representative in Hume. Here is a snapshot of the candidates are – at least those who have responded to requests from this newspaper.

Rebecca Thompson, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation candidate is eager to make a difference in Hume.

Ms Thompson’s served in both state and federal customer service positions for more than 13 years, assisting tens of thousands of people, navigate and understand tedious government policies and processes.

She is passionate about preserving the Australian way of life and values for future generations.

“Affordable cost of living is one of the key issues for me this upcoming election,” Ms Thompson said.

She said one in six Australians are experiencing food insecurity with 1.2 million Australian children living in severe food insecure homes.

“This is an issue that we should not be experiencing in a great country like ours.

“In addition to this, another key issue is to abolish the mandates and allow Australians to get back to work.”

She would also like to see Family Law reformed.

“I can confirm how broken the system is and how the child’s best interest is not always at the forefront of decisions made by court systems and processes.”

For The Greens candidate Karen Stewart her childhood and young adult life has shaped her awareness of the challenges facing our society including climate.

“Droughts, fires and my community’s flooding, all intensified by climate change, have impacted the lives of so many, Ms Stewart said.

“We cannot continue avoiding action on climate. The science is very clear and the government has a responsibility to act in accordance with this. I am determined to amplify the voices of Hume to ensure action is taken to address this.”

She is also critical of the government’s lack of transparency

“A federal integrity commission is vital, and it must be capable of undertaking effective investigations.”

Other issues she is dedicated to addressing include Australia’s lagging social and financial policies regarding tertiary education, housing, and female participation in the workforce as well as housing affordability pressures, rising childcare costs and insecure work amongst local families and households.

“I am dedicated to addressing these funding and policy issues that will assist in alleviating overall financial pressure on households.”

Incumbent, Liberal Angus Taylor has served Hume since 2013 and is proud of what has been achieved in the electorate.

“And I want to continue to make it an even better place to live, work and raise a family,” Mr Taylor said.

“Our (coalition) plan for Australia’s recovery includes tax relief for workers and small businesses; more funding for roads, rail, water infrastructure and renewable energy; record investments in health and other essential services; and a stronger defence force.

“We are helping families and pensioners with the cost of living with one-off payments, a reduction in the price of medicines and a 50 per cent cut to the fuel excise.’

He said he is delivering Picton bypass and safety upgrades for Picton Road as well as $14 million to upgrade Silverdale Road and $1.6 billion to upgrade The Northern and Bringelly Roads.

“We’ve built new netball courts as part of the Tahmoor District Sporting Complex, and we’ve invested over $8 million to build Stage 1 of Ferguson’s Land Cricket Facility.

“I’ll continue to deliver on my plan for more local jobs, delivering important local infrastructure…”

Joaquim De Lima, Liberal Democratic Party candidate, it’s his eighth time running. Mr De Lima has been spurred to run again because of the “increasing comfort governments have had with utilising more coercive measures more frequently to meet their aims”.

Mr De Lima, an IT professional with more than 20 years’ experience had worked for NSW Health until recently, when he was stood down due to vaccine mandates introduced September 2021.

He believes that a government that has to constantly resort to coercion, does not represent the will of the people. He wants to protect individual rights, which are the most important ingredient of a prosperous and peaceful society.

Hume federal candidates forum tonight at Camden Civic Centre

Voters wanting to hear what the majority of candidates running in the federal election are invited to attend the Hume Candidates Forum on Thursday, April 28 at Camden Civic Centre.

This event will be an opportunity for the public to raise their questions via a Q&A style event moderated by Rohan Boehm, a professional moderator, who has previously hosted numerous candidate forums.

The forum is an opportunity for voters to ask questions that are important to them and their local community. Each candidate will be given an initial three minutes to introduce themselves, their values and what they hope to achieve if they are elected.

At the time of writing, the following candidates have been invited:

Greg Baines, Labour, confirmed; Penny Ackery, Independent, confirmed; Sheneli Dona, Independent, confirmed; Rebecca Thompson, One Nation, confirmed; Garry Dollin , UAP, confirmed; Angus Taylor, Liberal, Invited but not confirmed, and; Karen Stewart, Greens, confirmed.

The event starts at 6pm Thursday, April 28. For people unable to attend, the event will be streamed live.

GP’s far reaching work awarded OAM

General practitioner Dr Matthew Gray’s long list of achievements and there are many – highlights the work beyond the four walls of his consultancy room – and it’s his many years of contribution to community health that saw him awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM).

Dr Gray was a little more than surprised by the award, which he says he is deeply honoured to receive and “it adds a weight of responsibility to strive to do better”.

He now joins his father-in-law Dr John Schwartz OAM, as well as being a principle GP at the family based practice in Elderslie.

Asked why he chose to become a GP, he recollected having written down at the tender age of seven, a career choice between becoming a surfer or a doctor. Thankfully for the medical profession the latter won out.

He is the first in his family to follow a medical career, but not the last.

His mother was a teacher and his father, who passed away in the height of the covid pandemic in July 2021, retired as a school principal. Dr Gary would have loved to have shared his OAM news with his father.

“When my mother went to uni, there weren’t many women at the time; so she has been a source of inspiration as well as my dad.

“Being in teaching probably encouraged me to work hard; teaching itself is a caring and learning profession and part of what I have done is to educate future doctors whether it be medical students or registrars here, so that must have brought out some of the teaching things that I must have inherited from them.”

Dr Gray values the opportunity to look after and be involved with people “through all aspects of their health”.

“The simplest of things can make a big difference to people’s lives and that may just mean providing a friendly ear.

“The beauty of being a GP of all the medical specialities, you help the whole person; whether it be social, physical, mental and emotional issues.

“Often listening is enough. Other times people face really serious things and you can make a difference through the treatment…but ultimately, I have seen some courageous stories and learnt a lot from patients as well.”

He said as humans we are complex creatures.

“I never stop learning and admiring and being inspired by people’s stories.”

Dr Gray’s concerns extend beyond the practice – he is championing the health care issues of broader South West Sydney.

He is heavily involved in the South West Sydney Primary health Network that “tries to improve access to quality medical and health care through supporting and building capacities within general practices and other primary care settings… to deliver the care our community needs”.

“I am fairly passionate about South West Sydney and Camden in particular, the people here really do face challenges that other areas might not, but address them, and there is a lot of community spirit.”

Along with his in-laws and wife, Dr Gray is involved with the African AIDS Foundation. His earliest experience in Africa was as a third year medical student with his yet-to-be wife, working in a hospital that cared for Zulu people.

“The highlight of doing medicine is that you can take your skills – be it here or to another community on the other side of the world…”

With so much work to do to keep the spotlight on health, Dr Gray has initiatives he would like to see come to fruition – such as “removing barriers and improving the relationship between our commonwealth and state delivery of health”.

“People whether they are using a state run hospital facility or a commonwealth supported general practice primary care services – the people at the centre still have the same need…”

He wants to see best options for a “person’s journey through the health system”, but said it’s a work in progress.

Dr Gray is also on the local health district board.

“At heart I am an optimist. I do think there has been change for the better [in the system] if I look at 2000 (Campbelltown and Camden hospitals) when I started and where they are now there is a bright future for South West Sydney.”

The father of four is married to GP, Dr Jane Gray, who is the daughter of Dr John Schwartz – two of Grays’ sons are also heading for a career in medicine.