Wannon Greens candidate Kate Gazzard outlines her vision for the electorate.
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00:00Hi, I'm Kate Gazzard. I'm the Greens candidate for Wannan.
00:13I think we need better investment in our regional roads, build good quality roads from the start.
00:22We need more regular maintenance, fixing small defects before they become huge gaping potholes
00:27and traffic hazards so that the roads are safe for everyone to drive on.
00:33We also need to mitigate against the effects of climate change and knowing that more severe
00:37weather events will happen like floods and fires and droughts, I think we need to really
00:44prepare for that.
00:48With regards to the cost of living crisis, I think regional communities have been severely
00:54affected, you know, families are struggling, farmers are struggling.
00:59We need to reduce power bills by investing in solar and batteries and providing subsidies
01:04for families regionally.
01:07We need to make food more affordable, encourage local businesses, local food growing and ensure
01:14our food security.
01:16And we need to stop the supermarkets from price gouging and making huge profits when people
01:21are struggling to put food on the table.
01:25Also access to health care is critical, you know, you don't have wealth if you don't have
01:29your health.
01:30So I think preventative health care is way more cost effective than, you know, trying to
01:35find a cure for things.
01:36So good dental care.
01:39We need dental to be covered by Medicare.
01:42People can't afford to go to the dentist at the moment.
01:45We need good access to mental health care when people are struggling.
01:49And we need access to GPs and the regional, the regions are really, have limited access
01:55to, you know, seeing GPs, seeing specialists, people who don't have the time and money and
01:59energy to drive to Melbourne all the time.
02:01So we need more investment in health care in our region.
02:05With regards to the aged care crisis, I think people deserve to grow old in the place that
02:14they want, in the place that they grew up, if they want to stay close to family.
02:17So we need to make that possible by investing in affordable housing for older people.
02:24We need supports in place, better training and funding and better wages and conditions
02:30for carers so that there's more incentive incentives for people to provide care and better access
02:38to care as people get older.
02:40We know we're an ageing population and we need to prepare for that.
02:47My stance on the wind farms, the offshore wind farms, in principle, I am supportive of renewable
02:52energy and we need to make a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
02:58But we need to take the community along with us and so every step of the way there needs
03:04to be community consultation early and often and we need to make sure that our community
03:09is benefiting from any infrastructure.
03:12So that means, you know, access to tertiary education and to trade so we can upskill local
03:18people, we can create jobs in the area and can contribute to the local economy.
03:24We need to make sure that our marine life won't be adversely affected.
03:28We need to have strong, check the environmental impact and cultural heritage impact of any proposals,
03:34look at the whale and migratory bird patterns and make sure that we're not endangering wildlife
03:40or for our local community.