Central Coast News

CANDIDATE Q & A – Jake Cassar, Independent candidate for Robertson

JAKE_CASSAR

What motivated you to run for the seat of Robertson?

This will be the third election that I’ve run in and I consider myself an activist that runs in elections to try and get things done for the community. I know it is unlikely that I will get elected, it’s going to be Labor or Liberal, but I believe I’ll make enough influence to get some positive things done for the community. Also the fact that me and my partner are expecting our first child, I want to make the Central Coast a safer and more enjoyable place for future generations.

When you say you’re an activist can you tell us a few of the major issues that you have in the electorate?

I’ve been called a social activist in the past and I believe our deplorable levels of suicide particularly with the youth on the Central Coast has to be the major issue in this election. I mean we just got another $10 million given to the Mariners our local soccer team, who do great things for the Central Coast don’t get me wrong ,but I really don’t think we are facing the true issues.

We’ve got about 1500 people sleeping on the street every night on the Central Coast, about 4500 people per annum were turned away from Central Coast services, homeless people and people doing it tough because there is just not enough room, so I believe the government really, really needs to get their priorities right and it’s activists like myself and other independents, if they are fair dinkum independents, who can get in there and really make a difference for the important issues not just the popular ones.

So you are trying to raise awareness of those issues that might be side lined by other parties?

Exactly, statistically the Central Coast has one of the highest rates for giving to charities in the state and this is a real strength of ours. We’ve got big hearted people, good Aussie culture. Irrespective of their background, we are are caring sharing community and I believe it is this strength that will help us to move forward to try and curb some of the less than desirable statistics such as the homelessness, the unacceptable levels of suicide, youth unemployment and another issue on the Central Coast is preventable juvenile incarceration is a major issue. I think the focus for the Central Coast should be world class sustainable development, arts, culture and entertainment. We’ve got a lot of really talented singers and musicians. Karis Eden who won the Voice last year is from the Central Coast. We’ve got a lot of good battlers, and a lot of those artists that are battlers as well come out with a really incredible and powerful something to share from this struggle.

Sustainable development is absolute key, the Central Coast should be internationally famous for its natural beauty not just seen as an easy target for development.

You’ve drawn the first place on the ballot, do you think this will help you at all?

I’ve drawn first place on the ballot, which is always a good thing. It guarantees between 2 and 3 percent of the vote straight away, a lot of young people in particular will just go 1,2,3,4 straight down the ticket. But apart from that I believe I’m going to get quite a bit of support for the right reasons. Bringing back Old Sydney Town, the old gem in Gosford, is a major issue in this election. [It will bring] Hundreds of jobs back to the Central Coast and the overflow in the entertainment industry, being a struggling muso myself it would be good to have some human traffic come through Gosford again in the local establishments. But mainly it will help us restore and maintain our national identity, our Aussie culture. Of course there needs to be a massive focus on the Indigenous culture. Maybe we could do a pre 1788 thing so we could show the wonderful culture that was thriving here pre-1788 and still is in many places of course. So strong consultation with the local Aboriginal community and I’d just really love to see Old Sydney Town back on its feet.

What are people getting if they vote for you on the 7th September?

I believe many of the local issues in our area, particularly with the youth, are largely due to boredom and lack of employment opportunites. We really need something big on the Central Caoast and I am going to keep pushing for that. I run big events, I’m involved in big events for the community where we raised probably $20 000 for the local homeless shelters and lifeline. So if people vote for me it’s a vote for really bringing thr community together. If I am elected as the memeber for Robertson I will continue to tirelessly battle to ensure every viable option is explored to see Old Sydney Town return and I’d also push for nationwide and compulsory national service style boot camps for troubled youth, long term unemployed young people and a separate course for juvenile offenders. We need to get a lot of our young people off their backsides, get them to build up some resilience, self discipline, self esteem. If I’m not elected I am going to continue to do all of this anyway.

What’s your biggest challenge in getting elected?

I don’t have any corflutes, I don’t even think I have asked anyone to vote for me in this election, to be honest with you. My actions in the community speak louder than words or any corflute or any one liners, this election is an opportunity for myself as a social justice and environmental activist to take things to the next level. I can either spend the next year, or the next 10 years, battling to try and get these things over the line or I can use my preferences and my political influences to try and get them done in the next couple of weeks and to me that prospect is really exciting.

Who will you be preferencing?

I wish I didn’t have to preference any of the major parties, I’m really disillusioned with the major parties. There used to be a significant difference between Labor and Liberal. Labor is a little bit more for the people and a little bit more for the environment. In my opinion most people knowing that the Greens will go with Labor unconditionally, I feel like, unfortunately they have lost their political leverage. So that’s where I come in as a true independent, and I’m able to talk to both sides and just try and get the best deal I can for the community.

Some of the big issues that have come up so far in this election are same sex marriage and the issue of asylum seekers. Where do you stand on these issues?

First and foremost on the issue of asylum seekers, something needs to be done to stop this terrible situation where people, men, women and children’s lives are being lost at sea. So I believe one of the answers may be to put together an organisation, an internationally supported organisation that deals with asylum seekers by priority in the country where they actually come from, or in their nearest safe haven. We’ve got about 80 000 Aussies leaving Australia every year mainly to go to London and the states for work so why not let in a lot of these asylum seekers. If people have got an issue with people coming to Australia that don’t follow the culture or know our way of life, maybe have a two year national service type program, a positive integration program where they get involved in indigenous communities, helping indigenous communities, maybe helping the homeless. So I’m a big supporter of supporting genuine refugees, I’m just not sure that a lot of the people that spend $10 000 to jump on a boat are genuine refugees so we really need to look at that closely.

As far as same sex marriage goes, love is love, if someone can find love in another person whether they are male or female, consenting adults than good on them I give them my absolute blessing. My sister is gay I’ve got heaps of gay mates…I one hundred percent support gay marriage I think it is absolutely disgusting that in this day and age we don’t support people’s right to get married.

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