State election candidate profiles: Stephen Nugent, The Greens

Updated March 19 2019 - 2:35pm, first published March 16 2019 - 2:34pm
ON THE BALLOT: The Greens candidate Stephen Nugent. Photo: SUPPLIED
ON THE BALLOT: The Greens candidate Stephen Nugent. Photo: SUPPLIED

PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY:

  • Name: Stephen Nugent.
  • Political party: The Greens.
  • Age: 57.
  • Family: I’m married to Fiona and we have two daughters, Freya and Portia. My extended family is mostly in Queensland while Fiona comes from a local farming family. Family is very important to me and one of the main reasons we moved to Orange from Sydney.
  • Where do you live? We live in Orange on the fringe of the Central Business District.
  • What do you do for a living? I’m lucky enough to have three jobs that keep me fairly busy. The main one is Deputy Chief Executive Officer at OCTEC Limited, a community-based organisation that provides employment, training and youth services from 140 sites in NSW, the ACT, Victoria and Queensland. My second job is Orange City Councillor, a position that I was elected to in 2017. And the third one is a labour of love – Fiona and I run a martial arts dojo where we teach the Japanese martial art, Aikido, to children, teenagers and adults of all ages.
  • How long have you lived in the Orange electorate? 18 years.
  • What is the best part of living in the Orange electorate? The Orange electorate is a magic place to live. The city of Orange has brilliant health, education and cultural facilities that service not just Orange, but the whole electorate. And while Orange is big enough to have plenty of diversity, it doesn’t have many of the downsides of big city life. The rural nature of much of the electorate makes it a great place to bring up kids, while our location gives us easy access to Sydney and Canberra and all those cities have to offer. So the best thing about living in the Orange electorate – our perfect balance.
  • Why are you running for the state seat of Orange? We’ve had conservative governments in power at the state and federal levels for a number of years now and that has taken its toll on the environment and many regional communities. Climate change is real and is happening but our governments don’t want to talk about it or take any meaningful action to address it. In this situation, it’s important to have progressive voices speaking for the environment, for sustainable local communities and for the many groups in our communities who are often forgotten or ignored by the conservative right.

POLICY POSITIONS:

  • In the past couple of years Orange has received far less government funding than the Bathurst and Dubbo electorates. How do you propose to redress that imbalance and, if elected, what would you spend the money on? It’s a disgrace that this government has been so inequitable in their distribution of funding - it’s almost as if they’ve been punishing the people of Orange for the 2016 byelection result. In terms of redressing the imbalance, it’s important to have a local member who is capable and fearless in advocating for their local electorate. And, of course, having a local member that holds some sway is also helpful. The Greens could hold the balance of power in the lower house and/or the upper house after this election and that would put a Greens local member in a very strong position. In terms of where the money is spent, that’s not just my call – individuals, community groups, businesses and the four councils that make up the electorate should all have a say. But my answers to the following questions give an indication of priorities.
  • The new XPTs are in the pipeline, but there have been no meaningful commitments on track upgrades to straighten the line between Orange and Bathurst. Meanwhile, the push to extend the Bathurst Bullet train to Orange and build servicing facilities for the train here is yet to yield results. If elected, what will you do about these much-needed service upgrades? The Rail Action Group has been doing an excellent job advocating for better rail services for Orange. I’d work closely with them and lobby the government to fund three key initiatives – 1. the investigation and construction of line upgrades and track straightening, 2. day-return train services to Sydney, and 3. Orange Railway Station developed as a transport hub. In terms of the first, I’d seek funding for the investigation of line upgrade routes and the acquisition of easements (if not already crown land) as an important first step. On the second, I would strongly advocate for the overnight stabling of the current Bathurst Bullet train in Orange rather than Lithgow. And on the third, I’d liaise closely with NSW TrailLink Coaches, Orange Buslines and Orange Council to upgrade passenger facilities at Orange Railway Station to 2020 standard for local and regional coaches.

The 12-month trial and four-bed facility has been a good start and a tribute to all involved in the 'Push for Palliative' campaign. But it’s not enough. Most large rural and regional cities have access to palliative care bed facilities, so why not Orange?

  • The Northern Distributor Road is taking the lion's share of Orange's freight traffic now. If elected, will you fight to make the Northern Distributor Road a regional road to shore up its maintenance funding, and if not, what will you do to ensure Orange City Council receives help to maintain it? The Northern Distributor Road is quite clearly a regional road and carries a considerable amount of traffic that is not local. There is ‘state’ traffic travelling between Sydney and Western NSW, and regional traffic travelling between different parts of the Central West. In these circumstances, the state government should take responsibility for maintenance of the road – they should have before now and they should definitely do so from here on. Cost-shifting from the state to local government is a long-term and ongoing trend that needs to be challenged at every turn. An election and possible change in government presents a great opportunity to get the Northern Distributor Road back onto the agenda and I would be arguing strongly for the state government to fulfil its responsibilities.
  • If elected, what measures would you support to tackle to ice and illegal drug issues in Orange? Is the solution as simple as increasing the number of police in the city? There are no simple solutions to the tragic impact that ice and other illegal drugs have on lives and communities. Simply increasing the number of police will not do it and the so-called ‘War on Drugs’, with its emphasis on prohibition and ‘law and order’ policies, has manifestly failed to reduce the harmful use of drugs and associated social impacts. The Greens have long advocated a public health approach to illegal drug use with a focus on harm minimisation. Alternatives to prohibition-based drug policies have been successfully trialled and legislated internationally. We need to evaluate what’s happening around the world and adopt best practice in terms of information and education programs. And we need to re-direct alcohol and drug taxes to fund an independent drug regulatory authority whose principal aim is to reduce the adverse health, social and economic consequences of drug use to the user and the community.
IN THE ELECTORATE: The Greens candidate Stephen Nugent. Photo: SUPPLIED
IN THE ELECTORATE: The Greens candidate Stephen Nugent. Photo: SUPPLIED
  • Do you support the proposed Mount Canobolas mountain bike trail centre? If so, and if elected, how will you help Orange get the required funding to make the project a reality? As a keen cyclist and mountain bike rider myself, I love the idea of a mountain bike trail centre being built near Orange. However, I don’t support any development that will compromise the significant environmental values of the Mount Canobolas State Conservation Area. There have been more than 800 species recorded on the mountain and the vegetation is quite different to other bushland in the Central West. There are a number of endemic species which are not found anywhere else in the world, 3 Endangered Ecological Communities and 8 threatened fauna species including the greater glider, scarlet robin, dusky woodswallow and eastern bentwing bat. I’m very happy to advocate strongly for funding to build a mountain bike trail centre and develop world class tracks, as long as the SCA’s important and significant environmental value is not put at risk.
  • If elected, will you support replacing the palliative care 12-month trial with a full-time facility, and with more than the current four beds? The 12-month trial and four-bed facility has been a good start and a tribute to all involved in the 'Push for Palliative' campaign. But it’s not enough and a full-time ongoing facility with more beds is needed. Most large rural and regional cities have access to palliative care bed facilities, so why not Orange? Providing appropriate options and choices is critical to people being able to maintain dignity when in need of end of life care. And it’s not just the elderly. Some younger people require end of life care and it’s not ideal for them to be nursed in a general medical ward or aged care facility. To me palliative care best practice means individuals and families being able to prepare for death on their own terms and with full dignity, and a dedicated palliative care facility is essential to that.

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