March 2019 is a long way away but that hasn’t stopped Stephen Lawrence from announcing his intention to run for the seat of Dubbo.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Lawrence, who was elected to Dubbo Regional Council last September, will seek preselection to run for a second time as a Labor candidate after previously campaigning in the 2015 election.
“I want people who are looking and listening at what I’m doing on council to know my intentions when it comes to the state election,” Mr Lawrence said.
“There was talk on Facebook at the end of last year so I thought it was appropriate to be transparent. I think people deserve that.
“Labor has a democratic process and I hope there are others that put their hands up for preselection.
“If there’s a better candidate than me I would step aside because I think Labor has a real shot at Dubbo, and it is important to have political competition.”
He said the timing of his announcement was about transparency, and he called on other potential candidates to come out and declare their intentions.
Rumours have long-swirled about the potential for current mayor Ben Shields and former mayor Mathew Dickerson to also run for the seat.
“I think people who intend to run should be transparent,” Mr Lawrence said.
“If Ben Shields is going to be a candidate in the election, he should come out and say so.
“It’s the same for Mathew Dickerson, Troy Grant, or anybody who knows what their intentions are.
“If people haven’t made their minds up, so be it, but I think most people who are intending to run would have a fair idea now.”
If preselected, Mr Lawrence said his campaign would be based around two key issues – hospital waiting lists and crime.
“If you look at the MyHospitals website which compares elective waiting lists across a range of surgeries, we are a long way behind comparable hospitals,” he said.
“And as far as crime, I’m trying to do some constructive things through council, but high on the agenda would be a 24/7 police station for Wellington and initiatives that can target the root causes of crime.”
No date has been set as yet for the formal preselection process to take place for Labor.
