The Londonderry State Election candidates pitch for your vote

I am passionate about representing our community and I want to be your strong voice in a Chris Minns Labor Government.

As the Member for Londonderry, I’ve been proud to stand alongside the community to deliver Jordan Springs Public School, upgrade local infrastructure and stop the demolition of hundreds of family homes and businesses in Castlereagh, Cranebrook and Llandilo.

This local community stood by me through my health challenges last year, and that support has made me even more determined to deliver for western Sydney.

After 12 years in power, Dominic Perrottet and the Liberal Party have lost their way.

The Liberals are either arguing amongst themselves or heading for the exits.

They’ve privatised toll roads to a near monopoly and sold off our energy assets, leading to higher tolls and higher energy bills.

And the Liberals have hit NSW families with more taxes than any other state because they thought they could get away with it.

Instead of just blaming the Liberals, Labor has a Fresh Start Plan to cap weekly toll costs, stop the privatisation of essential assets, deliver safe staffing levels for nurses and build a high school in Jordan Springs.

After 12 long years of privatisation, it’s time for a fresh start.

I’m asking for your Number 1 vote on the 25th of March because I want to be your strong voice for western Sydney as part of a Minns Labor Government.

My name is Samantha Talakola, and I’m the Liberal Candidate for Londonderry.

Born and raised in Southern India, I came to Australia as a young woman to pursue higher education in Business Management.

Western Sydney has been my home for more than a decade, and I am incredibly thankful for all the support I’ve had from our community.

This community inspires me – it’s the reason I became a community worker, and why I’m putting up my hand to represent you in our State Parliament. I want to represent the growing and diverse communities of Londonderry, and make sure that every voice is heard.

I draw great strength from those in our community, it has led me to volunteering and working on a range of important issues – disabilities, mental health and working with women escaping domestic violence.

As a single mum, with my two kids in local schools, I am passionate about the future opportunities that we can create for our kids.

This experience of working with some of the most vulnerable people continues to inspire me to do more for local families struggling with rising costs and financial pressures.

We need an experienced and capable Government, with strong leadership, to deliver a strong economy that will provide the services and infrastructure that our community needs.

Locally, we need someone with a positive vision, and someone who is part of a team who will continue to deliver the roads, community amenities, and services that our community needs.

As part of Dominic Perrottet’s Liberal Team, I will use my experience to fight for our community, provide cost of living support, and make this an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.

My name is David Bowen. I am 51-years-old and have lived in the Penrith area all my life, with family ties going back to the early 1800’s in Castlereagh.

I am a qualified horticulturist and have had my own garden maintenance business since 1995, have worked as a TAFE teacher and as a supervisor for various environmental restoration companies. I have shown an interest in this party because I believe their policies are sensible and address the driving forces for many of the problems I have seen evolve over time.

The main policies of protecting our natural environment from over-development and stopping corruption are balanced and warranted. The major parties are obsessed with limitless development and as a result, our environment, for which we rely upon, is decaying and we have become a congested society with heat related illnesses now a dangerous threat.

I oppose the raising of the dam wall because I believe it will simply be a green flag for yet more endless development. Flooding will still occur from creeks and other waterways north of the dam, with mass hard surfaces such as roads and pathways adding to the runoff problem. I do not believe that blanket destruction of our few remaining critically endangered forests should be allowed to occur for new estates.

There needs to be more respect for delicate ecosystems to connect to each other. This does not mean simply leaving creeklines overrun with noxious weeds year after year.

I do not want to see another ocean of dark rooved houses at Penrith Lakes. Our community deserves better than that. It should be a recreational and tranquil place to explore and enjoy by all, including our wildlife. I also strongly oppose the proposal of developing a massive 900ha of rare bushland north of Penrith, not surprisingly supported by the Liberal Party.

I want to fight for the people of Londonderry, from my community in St Marys, to the residents of the new suburbs around Melonba, and the often-waterlogged inhabitants around Londonderry itself.

Challenges face us here, as existing bushland is cleared for new housing without sufficient thought for the infrastructure and services the people actually need.

We see the current Government pushing ahead with raising the Warragamba Dam wall in an effort to rezone the land for their developer mates, regardless of the destruction of Aboriginal sites and wildlife.

As we’ve experienced over the past few years, building on floodplains will mean massive insurance costs for homeowners, let alone the isolation and repairing of flood damage, not to mention what has been allowed to happen with sinking houses in Jordan Springs. The Greens stand against this brazen government-sponsored developer landgrab.

The Greens represent good policy for a fairer Australia.

I will defend the rights and living standards of families and children in our welfare system, and of disabled people doing their best around the hurdles society sets up for them.

Western Sydney represents 63 per cent of NSW gambling losses, and we want to be able to help people with a gambling addiction by allowing them to control their own limits.

Similarly, The Greens want to minimise drug harm by decriminalising and taxing drugs like cannabis, treating them as we do alcohol, and providing community mental, rehabilitation and health support with those taxes, as jailing addicts has not worked.

At 32 years of age, I decided to get into politics because I am not impressed with the condition of our state.

I see families financially struggling, a declining education system and an energy crisis. And if what we are seeing now is any insight into the future, then things are going to get worse. As both a member of this community and a father, I refuse to sit by and watch this continue to happen. Instead, I will do all I can to improve this state.

I joined One Nation because it’s the only party that genuinely fights for the people with common sense solutions and openly challenges the madness of the major parties.

I stand with parents who want full transparency and consent with what is being taught in NSW classrooms. The NSW education system has the fastest-falling academic results in the world, as shown in the NSW 2021 Curriculum Review. Whilst other parties remain silent on the political and gender ideologies being taught in our classrooms, One Nation is fighting to Let Kids be Kids and is committed to abolish these harmful teachings.

I stand for increasing housing affordability, reducing the cost of living, and reducing economic pressures due to failed energy policy. We need a strong mix of gas, coal, nuclear and renewable and must stop aimlessly rushing into spending billions of taxpayer money focusing only on renewables. I am committed to understanding the community’s real struggles, to be the voice for those that have been left behind.