These are the candidates for the seat of Yerrabi that have indicated they will attend the GCC ACT Election Forum on 9 September 2020

Candidate NamePartyWhat are the 3-4 major challenges or opportunities for Gungahlin ?What are you going to do about the challenges or opportunities you have identified if elected ?
David PollardDavid Pollard IndependentAs Gungahlin nears “completion”, we have the last opportunities to make sure we got everything right. We have to live here with the decisions of planners and developers.
• Local employment
• Roads and traffic
• Public green spaces
• School capacity
• Labor/Greens have not done enough to support large employers moving to Gungahlin. I will push for the same tools they use in Civic to be applied to Gungahlin.
• A comprehensive Roads and Traffic review to identify anything that doesn’t work well enough, and fix it. Traffic lights, duplications, street lights, foot paths – whatever we need.
• Every policy must be viewed with an environmental lens, and a view to protect green space in Gungahlin.
• I propose Gungahlin gets a second College as soon as possible.
Andrew BraddockThe Greens• Our community is growing rapidly with unchecked development; yet investment in community facilities, local infrastructure, and local employment has not kept pace
• Gungahlin swelters due to the mass razing of trees, with the lowest tree coverage in the ACT, at just 4%.
• Invest in local communities so everyone can enjoy their neighbourhood.
• Prioritise the community’s needs for the town centre rather than developers.
• Plant and care for our urban trees in order to reach 30% canopy coverage across every Gungahlin suburb.
Mainul HaqueThe GreensIssues that are confronting our future are endless.
• Investment in local infrastructure has not kept pace with growth of Gungahlin
• Impact of Covid19 with loss of employment, mortgage pressures and business closures
• Ageing population, social isolation and mental health challenges, including in multicultural communities
• Domestic violence is a menace that is destroying families and lives
• Educational opportunities to address social inequalities
The lessons that I have learned from life and the Australian Greens’ position are the same. For example, some of my earliest memories are those of floods drowning whole villages. There are also memories of droughts and deforestation. Memories of these ecological disasters remind me regularly that we must work together to save this planet.
I am for need, not greed. As a candidate for the ACT Greens I will be working with Canberrans and the people of Yerrabi to achieve this goal. In Yerrabi this means we will:
• plant more trees
• improve infrastructure to better connect our suburbs
• improve cycle paths and road infrastructures to reduce traffic congestion
• build a multipurpose community centre and revitalise Yerrabi Pond. These two initiatives will create jobs, support our local small businesses and bring families and communities together
• expand Gunghalin CIT campus to increase opportunities for people of all ages.
These are need based polices, not greed.
Michael Pettersson MLAACT Labor• Investment in schools and school infrastructure to meet population demand
• Access to quality health services so we can get fast and effective treatment
• More and better community facilities for local community groups to use
• We’re investing in more modern schools and school expansions. From Margaret Hendry School in Taylor to the expansion of Franklin Early Primary to the new High School in Gungahlin East, we are delivering more student places to accommodate our growing population. And we’re making sure we get the best staff by paying our teachers a good wage and giving them the support they need.
• The Gungahlin nurse-led Walk-In centre prevents needless trips to the hospital or GP and ensures we can get treatment closer to home. The new rehab hospital at UC is helping people recover from serious injuries and taking pressure off our Emergency Departments. And Canberra Hospital is getting its biggest expansion ever, a $500 million investment to keep up with the growth in and around Canberra
• Labor has promised a new Community Centre in the Gungahlin region and recently supported the launch of Tennis ACTs plan for tennis courts in Amaroo. And I have called for land in Casey, which was set aside for a bowling club, to be put back out for community consultation and more community facilities to be considered on the land.
Bethany WilliamsCanberra Progressives• Dealing with a large number of young people who have nothing to do. We need to provide spaces for teenagers to hang out and things for them to do so they are not tempted to get into mischief. A skate park like the one in Belconnen would be a good start.
• Schools - with the population growing, the schools are bursting at the seams. This needs to be addressed so that kids and families aren't being disadvantaged from an educational perspective.
• Shoddy developers and certifiers - we need to protect people who own property by enforcing higher standards for developers, regulating the certification industry, and have recourse for homeowners who experience defects in their building long after the defects period has expired - if it is a result of poor workmanship.
• I want to get action on the Giralang shops. It's gone on for too long and the residents of Giraling deserve much better.
I am going to look deep into the issues identified above, and work out what is achievable from a budget perspective. I want to better understand what money is coming in, and what money is going out. Once I am across the budget in more detail, I will then push the ACT Government to build/legislate/intervene in matters that are causing angst to the community, or that would make the Yerrabi community a better place to live
Mike StelzigCanberra ProgressivesA new hospital complementing the existing Canberra and Calvary hospitals.
As the areas around Gungahlin grow, new suburbs must be planned with less density and with a clear goal to reclaim lost native flora and fauna and to make suburbs liveable.
A new, fully equipped police station and more police officers.
Regarding hospital beds, the ACT must create income sources to pay for the new hospitals and specialists. One of the income methods would be to form private-public partnerships where the ACT will gift land to a company in return for a stake and profits in that company. Also, rather than lease buildings, the ACT could build and then lease office buildings. The same with a new, purpose built police station.

The Territory Plan, estate development plans and associated legislation must change to direct the government to employ recognised town planners with environmental credentials. These experts will design the new estates and not developers. Canberrans will be empowered to have a say in developments of a certain nature and size. Ministers will be removed from approving and fast tracking developments.
Alistair Coe MLACanberra Liberals1. Reducing cost of living pressures so everyone can get ahead.
2. Improving access to local health services.
3. Better access to local facilities, including improved parking, better maintained green spaces.
4. Building a strong local economy to create jobs.
• Freeze rates for four years to provide relief and certainty over rates bills, and release more
land to increase housing affordability;
• Provide better access to healthcare in Gunghalin;
• Genuinely consult and engage with the community on long term planning, and build forward
focused infrastructure;
• Deliver world class services by increasing urban maintenance, addressing illegal dumping,
and enhancing green spaces through our Green Space Guarantee and commitment to plant
and care for One Million Trees; and
• Invest in ACT Policing to ensure they are well resourced and supported to keep our
community safe.
Jacob VadakkedathuCanberra Liberals1. Reducing cost of living pressures so everyone can get ahead.
2. Improving access to local health services.
3. Better access to local facilities, including improved parking, better maintained green spaces.
4. Building a strong local economy to create jobs.
• Freeze rates for four years to provide relief and certainty over rates bills, and release more
land to increase housing affordability;
• Provide better access to healthcare in Gunghalin;
• Genuinely consult and engage with the community on long term planning, and build forward
focused infrastructure;
• Deliver world class services by increasing urban maintenance, addressing illegal dumping,
and enhancing green spaces through our Green Space Guarantee and commitment to plant
and care for One Million Trees; and
• Invest in ACT Policing to ensure they are well resourced and supported to keep our
community safe.
James Milligan MLACanberra Liberals1. Reducing cost of living pressures so everyone can get ahead.
2. Improving access to local health services.
3. Better access to local facilities, including improved parking, better maintained green spaces.
4. Building a strong local economy to create jobs.
• Freeze rates for four years to provide relief and certainty over rates bills, and release more
land to increase housing affordability;
• Provide better access to healthcare in Gunghalin;
• Genuinely consult and engage with the community on long term planning, and build forward
focused infrastructure;
• Deliver world class services by increasing urban maintenance, addressing illegal dumping,
and enhancing green spaces through our Green Space Guarantee and commitment to plant
and care for One Million Trees; and
• Invest in ACT Policing to ensure they are well resourced and supported to keep our
community safe.
Krishna NadimpalliCanberra Liberals1. Reducing cost of living pressures so everyone can get ahead.
2. Improving access to local health services.
3. Better access to local facilities, including improved parking, better maintained green spaces.
4. Building a strong local economy to create jobs.
• Freeze rates for four years to provide relief and certainty over rates bills, and release more
land to increase housing affordability;
• Provide better access to healthcare in Gunghalin;
• Genuinely consult and engage with the community on long term planning, and build forward
focused infrastructure;
• Deliver world class services by increasing urban maintenance, addressing illegal dumping,
and enhancing green spaces through our Green Space Guarantee and commitment to plant
and care for One Million Trees; and
• Invest in ACT Policing to ensure they are well resourced and supported to keep our
community safe.
Leanne CastleyCanberra Liberals1. Reducing cost of living pressures so everyone can get ahead.
2. Improving access to local health services.
3. Better access to local facilities, including improved parking, better maintained green spaces.
4. Building a strong local economy to create jobs.
• Freeze rates for four years to provide relief and certainty over rates bills, and release more
land to increase housing affordability;
• Provide better access to healthcare in Gunghalin;
• Genuinely consult and engage with the community on long term planning, and build forward
focused infrastructure;
• Deliver world class services by increasing urban maintenance, addressing illegal dumping,
and enhancing green spaces through our Green Space Guarantee and commitment to plant
and care for One Million Trees; and
• Invest in ACT Policing to ensure they are well resourced and supported to keep our
community safe.
Petar JohnsonAustralian Climate Change Justice Party• Cost of Housing for young people.
• Lack of industry/ commercial space in the town centre.
• Unemployment post Covid and lack of local small business/industry/employment
• Implement a new golden age of new local industry including food bowl/renewable energy industries and closed loop economies.
• Open up low cost housing for young people.
• Establish new commercial space for light industry in Mitchell and rejuvenate Mitchell.
• Give funding to the Community Councils and outsource some of the work that the ACT Government is doing to them as a more efficient way to meet community needs.
Suzanne Orr MLAACT Labor• Ensuring Gungahlin residents are employed in good, secure jobs.
• Increasing access to free public healthcare for our growing community.
• Investing in our local schools so every young person has access to a great education.
• Protecting our local environment so we can continue to enjoy our local green spaces and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
• We will protect and create more than 250,000 local jobs by 2025 as part of Canberra’s recovery from COVID-19.
• ACT Labor delivered the Gungahlin Nurse-led Walk-in Centre and we will continue investing in healthcare by expanding the Canberra Hospital – the biggest health infrastructure investment since self-government.
• We will invest more than $400 million over the next four years to build new schools, and expand and upgrade existing schools. This includes upgrades to Amaroo School, an expansion of Franklin Early Childhood School, a new P-6 school in Throsby and a new P-10 school in Kenny.
• We’ve protected our local green space in Gungahlin by listing the Franklin Grasslands as a protected nature reserve. In addition, ACT Labor will create new, green jobs as we support Canberra households to become more sustainable.