State Election 2019 | Rockdale electorate candidates

The Leader has invited all candidates to submit a short statement on their background and policy platforms.

They are listed below in the order they appear on the ballot paper.

George Tulloch is a young creative business owner who is the Keep Sydney Open candidate for the electorate of Rockdale.

Born and raised on a rural farm near Queanbeyan, he came to Sydney seeking excitement and energy of the sort only a global city could provide. He has deep roots Rockdale, his grandfather settled in Kyeemagh in the 30s.

His father was born there and brought up on General Holmes Drive, sharing with George fond memories of swimming in Botany Bay and supporting the Dragons.

He passed that support on to George and they own one of the commemorative Changa prints.

Creativity and culture were embedded in his life from an early age, brought from the farm to the world-renowned Sydney Opera House on numerous occasions to absorb the virtuosic symphonies and operas performed by gifted Sydney musicians.

Feeling the call of the city he moved to Sydney in 2010 to pursue a university degree and his dream of being a musician.

At the University of Technology, Sydney he co-founded the Electronic Music Society and served as its president, was active in numerous societies assisting new students integrate into university life before graduating with a degree in Sound and Music design.

He worked for numerous entertainment institutions such as Candys Apartment and Ministry of Sound before launching his creative and marketing agency in Alexandria in 2018.

In 2014 when the lockout laws were introduced, he co-founded Save Our Nightlife; later joining Keep Sydney Open organising fundraisers and now being nominated as a candidate.

He sees the government’s continual attempts to legislate the youth and the arts out of NSW and notes that without conscious effort NSW will lose its global appeal.

He believes in support for the broad range of music and cultural communities and activities. The rampant corrupt development of infrastructure that only caters to the big end of town is ignoring what Rockdale really needs, a comprehensive 24 hour public transport system.

Beyond that small business needs to be fostered and grown so that the need for a commute can be removed and young people can stay in our community, spend more quality time together and not spend an hour and half driving 30 km just to get to and from work in the CBD.

An open Sydney means a Sydney that is alive, accessible and

available.

Local of 30 years and Rockdale-based family business owner Paul Collaros is standing for the Animal Justice Party (AJP) in the seat of Rockdale in the March state election.

Paul is one of over 60 AJP candidates running in this election.

“I am standing for the AJP in Rockdale, because I believe that animals deserve representation in parliament.

“I will work to ensure that the animals and environment of Rockdale are protected by reducing plastic waste and rubbish, enacting legislation to ban single use plastic bags, and supporting local animal shelters, protecting wildlife, and ensuring that natural areas are preserved and protected from development.

“I oppose the use of the poison 1080 which is both cruel and damaging to our environment and health. I will ensure that this animal-loving community has adequate areas for our best friends to run free.”

In the upcoming NSW State election, the Animal Justice Party will be representing animals and the environment by focusing on three key campaigns: freeing hens from battery cages; protecting our national icon the kangaroo; and taking urgent action to address climate change by protecting our existing native forests and marine habitats, setting a renewable energy target and investigating and introducing more sustainable agricultural systems.

The Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a political party formed in 2009 in response to the growing number of voters who feel strongly that much more needs to be done through our parliamentary systems to assist the wellbeing of animals. There is a need for laws and processes that recognise animals’ needs, capabilities and interests, whether they are domestic, farmed or wild. The AJP ensures laws are properly implemented and enforced to achieve genuine justice for animals. In 2015 the AJP made history when Mark Pearson became the first person in Australia to be elected to Parliament on an animal protection platform.

For the past four years I have been privileged to work for the people of Rockdale as our elected MP.

During that time I have been able to obtain significant wins from opposition proving that with effective advocacy and strong community organisation we can make sure our area gets a fair go.

Some of the achievements I am proudest of have been delivering major state funding to the Cook Park upgrade which has now been completed, the expansion of Kyeemagh Infants School to a full primary school which is being rolled out now, saving the former Cairnsfoot School site at Turrella from being sold off for property development, stopping Primrose House at Dolls Point being demolished, having the high-rise priority precincts at Bardwell Park and Turrella cancelled and having the stage two upgrade to St George Hospital fully delivered before the end of my first term.

I’ve lived and worked in Rockdale my entire life, growing up on Russell Avenue Sans Souci and running my family accounting business, first at Sans Souci and then at Rockdale prior to entering Parliament. I have always been passionate about our community and seeing our area prosper and I hope to be able to continue doing that if re-elected in March.

I’ve been disappointed by the Liberals trying to short-change our area, whether that’s on sneaky plans to sell off public assets or half-baked proposals like the F6 stage one that won’t connect to Southern Cross Drive or the city, and I’ll be fighting to ensure that we prioritise and properly fund our schools and hospitals, as well as investing in long overdue public transport solutions for the south to reduce pressure on our roads.

I am adamant on improving both the wellbeing of the people and the environment in my electorate.

I was born in Kogarah and have lived majority of my 34 years in Rockdale. My family has been servicing Rockdale since 1994. I am the owner of Chicken Licious Rockdale, Rockdale Fish and Chips, Utopia and co founder of Madif Al Ameer youth.

I am a student of medicinal chemistry, have good legal understanding of many aspects of law, and have worked for the government through various positions and have essential experience in government support strategies.

I run and assist many local charities, not for profit organisations and institutions. I am the CEO of Advantage Group Australasia, co-Founder of regenerate earth Advantage and strategic alliance partner to a vast amount of companies and organisations, all with the focus of improving the well being of people and the environment.

I am a true advocate of supporting and assisting indigenous Australians with the purpose of in-powering them with the correct support and skills, to take lead.

I am against further privatisation of any Energy sectors. I believe that essential services should be a priority . In fact, my core passion is to regulate pricing for essential services, with further support to families on low to medium incomes.

I would like to see Rockdale and its surrounding areas improve on aspects of:

Sam is a family man and father of four, and has spent his entire working life in the public service, starting out as a customer service attendant for Sydney Trains 21 years ago.

An Arncliffe local, Sam is a proud supporter of his local community and sends his children to school in the Rockdale electorate.

Sam is a long-term volunteer in local sports and is the current president of Arncliffe Aurora Football Club.

He is a staunch supporter of local youth services, and has helped to facilitate drug, alcohol and smoking awareness programs targeting teenagers and young adults, as well as mentoring the next generation.

Sam believes that families and small businesses deserve better community representation and as part of Gladys Berejiklian's Liberal Team, if elected, Sam will be a strong local voice for the Rockdale community.

Peter Strong is a father of two living with his family in Arncliffe; he runs a screen-printing and solar sound system business and is an active social and environmental justice campaigner. Peter is also a musician and visual artist.

Campaigns Peter have been involved with have called for urgent action on climate change and a transition to sustainable energy, support indigenous rights and rally against WestConnex and the F6 due to their impact on local air quality and green spaces.

Through events and visual art, Peter's campaigns present a bold vision for a fair and sustainable future for all. Music and events have been embattled recently in N.S.W with lock out laws shutting the night time economy down and new laws making putting on community festivals almost impossible. Society needs events to come together and co-create better ways to tackle todays problems. Sydney is way behind Melbourne when it comes to a sensible attitude towards encouraging music and entertainment culture.

Peter feels very strongly about the need to properly recycle and reduce waste. Our oceans are filling with plastic waste, our recycling industry in crisis and our society too trained towards the linear manufacture to landfill mentality. We need to adopt the principles of a Circular Economy.

Circular Economy principles are gaining traction around the world where companies are adopting policies working towards zero waste, recycling and utilising waste products in manufacturing.

Not only is the current linear material flow wasteful of resources it is fouling the environment and affecting wildlife. Grassroots involvement, action and initiatives are needed more than ever to reduce waste in our cities as well as reducing our carbon footprint. In a big way that everybody can get involved with we can adopt a recycling culture and ensure green spaces are preserved for all to enjoy.