Cr Law leads by 25 in preferences, awaits tense recount
David Law campaigning, above, and, at Nambour’s Meet the Candidates event, below.
by Cameron Outridge
Incumbent Div 10 Cr David Law said the past two weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster but he remained positive and optimistic as he awaited the result of a recount.
“It’s been nerve wracking,” he said on Thursday. “Peter (Walsh) wants a recount and that’s a reasonable request under the conditions with only 25 votes in it.
“I would do the same. I will continue to remain positive and optimistic. I certainly hope that I’m still leading in the end.”
Cr Law’s priorities, if elected, would include continuing several ongoing divisional projects and focusing on the needs of the community.
“I’ll be hitting the ground running,” he said. “I’m never someone who is short of energy.
“My priority would be to go through all of the information and conversations I had with the community, specifically over the last three months.
“And then it’s about making sure that everything that is in progress continues and the new items get started.”
Back to divisional focus
Cr Law said Council needed to concentrate its focus back at the divisional level rather than prioritising regional projects like City Hall.
“Before I started in the council in 2020, the airport, the landing cable, the Maroochydore City Centre, the new council building at Maroochydore, they were all things that were called region-making projects, that were put in place prior to 2020 when I started.
“There was clearly a message from the voters in 2020 that the region-making projects are over and we need to be more focused on the day-to-day things. I have certainly not supported any new region-making projects because I agreed we need to focus on our divisions again.”
‘I will always argue for more funding’
Cr Law acknowledged election feedback about the hinterland missing out on funding at the expense of the Coast but argued progress has been made in that area.
“I will always argue for more funding for the hinterland, but my view is that in the four years that I’ve been in council it has been increasing and we have been doing better than in the past.
“I’ve successfully doubled the funding for gravel roads in ’21, ‘22 and ‘23. Obviously I want to keep that going and I want to increase it more and more, so there is still a lot to do.
“Another example is the Eumundi streetscaping project, when I started was budgeted at $800,000 and finished at $3.4 million. I think that’s a pretty good effort.
“And now we’ve got the Nambour Place Plan, a plan for the council buildings in Nambour including funding for a new library and community spaces. Now it’s about keeping that going. But in an election campaign, that is not a message that is going to cut through. The message that is going to cut through is that ‘we are not getting our share of funding’.
“We would like more funding, but then I can also look and see what has increased and what has improved, and I intend to continue on that journey. Having been doing that for four years, I’m very well placed, to continue doing that, and absolutely, hit the ground running from day one.”
In 2020 Cr Law beat Cortney Claridge 4912 votes (56.85%) to 3728 votes (43.15%) after they were the final candidates standing out of a field of seven.