Daniel Puts A Spotlight On Candidates

March 15, 2016

Wattle Camp resident Daniel McLennan is facing his fifth open heart surgery in just 90 days … so you would think the South Burnett Regional Council elections would be the last thing on the young man’s mind.

But Daniel, 29, has just wrapped up a project where he attempted to video all 18 South Burnett Divisional candidates and five Mayoral candidates – for free!

Unfortunately, not all the candidates responded – and some who were keen to take part could not arrange the hours away from their busy campaigns to make it happen.

Daniel spent hours with the candidates that came on board, both in the flesh and while editing their videos.

He feels he has grown to know and understand them all, and he thinks whatever the election results, the South Burnett is in pretty good hands as everyone he spoke to had a genuine desire to make the region a better place.

“I spent between two and six hours with each one, so I think I got to know them as people,” he said.

But he believes some don’t fully understand the limitations of Council so could be disappointed if elected.

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Why did Daniel – who admits that his upcoming surgery is a 50/50 proposition – want to take on such a massive project?

Daniel became friendly with mayoral candidate Michael Brown through his visits to the Glendon Street Medical Centre to see his doctor, and actually signed Michael’s election nomination form.

So he was interested to attend the first Candidates Forum held in Kingaroy, the mayoral night organised by the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Daniel came away with the feeling the candidates had been shortchanged.

“Each of the candidates I spoke to had a lot more to say and they weren’t getting the opportunity to say it,” he said.

“I thought it was something that I could do for the community.”

He spent three weeks collecting and refining possible questions, and eventually ended up with 89. These he edited down to the final list which he put to each candidate (see below).

Daniel said he didn’t want the questions to be “aggressive” but designed in a way to provoke an answer that would provide an insight into the candidate responding. That’s the reason why some questions have little to do with Council activities.

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Initially, he found the candidates were a little anxious. Who was he? Why did he want to do this?

“But I didn’t have an angle, I just wanted to get the message out,” he said.

Once the first video was shot and edited, more candidates agreed to take part.

For every hour of video he shot, Daniel spent four hours editing to create a professional result.

“I estimate I shot about $70,000 worth of video but I didn’t charge one cent for it,” he said.

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Daniel is a keen amateur when it comes to photography and digital film-making, learning some of his skills from uni friends who were studying journalism while he was studying medicine.

His heart problems – which he has had since he was three months old – eventually forced him to quit university.

His profession now is as a workplace health and safety auditor but he is too ill at the moment to work as he tires very quickly.

But this didn’t stop him from completing the video project.

“I wanted to show that I could it, and I wanted to show that I could do something beneficial for the community,” he said.

“But I don’t know if I would do it again!”

All candidates were asked the same questions, but some replies were shorter than others. The shortest video is 29 minutes while the longest is 90 minutes.

“They were really, really nervous. I allowed them to make mistakes. Some of them took a lot of time to get their information out,” Daniel said.

“When they were happy with an answer, we would move on.”

* * *

Daniel, his wife Kerri and two-year-old daughter Charlotte will be moving to Brisbane soon to allow them to be closer to Prince Charles Hospital.

This will just be the latest move Daniel has made in his life. He was born in Sydney but grew up in Kingaroy.

His family shifted around the South Burnett, so he attended many local schools: Kumbia, Nanango, Kingaroy and Taabinga State Schools and, briefly, Kingaroy State High School before he completed Years 9-12 by Distance Education.

When Daniel moves this time, he will be leaving behind a legacy for future historians: a comprehensive look at the 2016 South Burnett Council elections.

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Daniel’s Videos:

Click the Play symbol to watch, or the YouTube logo to enlarge, these videos.

So far (March 15), the videos have accumulated 644 views (which does not include candidates) and 64 hours of watched time.

The most watched videos have been Terry Fleischfresser (Division 4), Sheena Lindholm (mayoral candidate) and Emeric Charles (Division 2).

Daniel said he would like to thank Protec Light and Sound and Musicians Oasis for loaning equipment to help with the project.

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Daniel’s Questions:

Introduction

• What brought you to wanting to raise your hand to represent the region (Division)?

• Who are you, what is your story?

Business and Enterprise

• Let’s start with an issue on every one’s mind recently, where do you stand on the proposal of the mine by Moreton Resources and what or will you do about it?

• What are your ideas for bringing more industry and / or innovation to the area to create jobs and help local businesses?

• What are your plans to boost local industry (building, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism etc) to try to secure more long-term job opportunities and employment growth?

Tourism

• What do you think are positives about living in the South Burnett (Division)?

• Are there negatives and how do you plan on changing that?

• What are your comments on the following statement from a constituent:Bunya Mountains Road – The main attraction to the South Burnett is dirt and clay! They bulldoze it just before the rain season (no thought has gone in there) and let it deteriorate throughout the peak season! Over millions of $$$ injected through tourism comes from the Bunya mountains and yet it’s ignored? The question is “When will you start looking after one of the hands that feeds you?

• Do you know about the Nanango Weir, and why it’s locked? Will you open the Nanango Weir to recreation, promote and maintain it?

• What do you think can be done to improve the attractiveness of the Region, to get more tourists to make the journey and spend in the area?

• What in your view are the Top 5 destinations that you would encourage tourists to visit in the region?

Crime

• Are you aware of the crime rates and how do you plan on minimising them?

• Does the region, in your view, have an illicit drug problem and what do you think can be done about it?

• On the matter of Domestic Violence, does the region have a problem and how do you propose that we bring about a change?

Health and Community Services

• Will we, the rate payers have to fund the private hospital?

• How will you improve the public hospitals and the areas around them?

• Will you try and get health professionals back to the South Burnett? e.g. Paediatrician, Cardiologists, and reduce the number of CareFlight transfers

• What will you do to improve services for mental health in this region?

• Do we have a cultural issue with alcohol? If so, is there a way that Council can improve this? Do we as a community provide sufficient support in your view, if not what will you do to improve this?

Domestic Violence

• Does the region have a good balance of support services to those affected before and after domestic violence. If not what do you propose to do about it?

Budget and Finances

• We see that there is a Budget crisis.

(a) What are your ideas to help bring the budget into balance?

(b) How do you think council could spend more effectively?

(c) In your view should the account books of Council be open for public scrutiny, if so how and when?

(i) Where do you stand on transparency?

(ii) Will residents have access to what their rates are being spent on?

(d) Is there financial waste in your view that could be saved, if so what?

Roads and Infrastructure

• Will you abolish the road levy?

• What are your comments on this question from a constituent?

One word roads!! And not just in the town of Nanango! They keep forgetting that there’s farmers who reside outside Nanango who pay massive rates and I mean in the thousands and thousands of dollars. We contribute heaps to the area. I don’t think slashing the grass on the side of the road once a year or patching up a pothole with a bit of asphalt is enough for the amount of council fees they pay. It’s a joke!… and no waste disposal services… even though we are only 15 minutes from town…?

• When / how / will Council design and build better roads to last longer and maintain them, accordingly?

• What are you going to do about the parking problems? (especially if the mine goes ahead)

• Who maintains the roadside, and how will we get a clear understanding of what is a resident’s responsibility and what is Council’s, more so when will council get on with maintaining them?

• What is the current total budget for roads (funds from all sources)?

(a) How is that budget allocated?

(i) With regard to construction of new roads and bridges and maintenance of existing roads?

(ii) By region?

(iii) By the number of vehicles using the roads?

(iv) The condition of the roads?

(v) How much of these activities are outsourced?

(vi) How much is done by council employees and equipment?

(vii) How would you change the current allocation processes to give better outcomes to residents?

Education

• How do you envisage education in the South Burnett, and what does the CQU coming to the area mean for the region?

• What will you do to help our younger generations get quality training in the area without having to move to a major city?

Renewable Energy and Environment

• There are a lot of Council-owned roof spaces that are currently not being utilised, will you look at getting the necessary grants to be able to get solar panels on them and reduce the cost of energy or at the very least, request a feasibility study? What are your thoughts on this?

• What will you do to help improve quality of land and make sustainable use of unused Council land?

• Do you think our region could do more in the renewable energy sector if so, what / how and when?

Indigenous Affairs

• Where do you stand on and what is your opinion about:

(a) The recognition of the First Peoples in the Australian Constitution?

(b) The removal of the discriminatory clause Section 25 that allows governments to exclude minority and ethnic groups of all types from the vote?

(c) The recognition of first peoples’ languages as Australia’s first languages, their customs and traditions; while also recognising the English language as Australia’s national language?

• How will you endeavour to Bridge The Gap, and improve consultation and co-operation with the indigenous peoples in the area?

Information and Technology

• How or should council utilise technology more?

• Is there a way, in your view, that interactions with Council could be more streamlined and efficient?

• Can the region do more to improve telecommunications (voice / data) in the area?

• Do you envisage Council going paperless?

Individual

• What are your political affiliations?

• What qualifications, experience as a candidate do you have in running business, public office, town planning, strategic management, agribusiness and tourism, what makes you a worthy candidate?

• Are you going to give yourself a pay rise as soon as you get in?

(a) Do you feel that the salary of councillors and the Mayor adequately represent the compensation needed?

• How will you stem the tide of corruption or perceived corruption in Local Government?

• How will you aim to help the region prevent racism and be more inclusive of minority groups?

Workplace Health & Safety

• How will you improve the WHS Standards of Council and maintain its responsibility to the community to provide safe public spaces and venues?

• What will you do to assist the community in understanding its responsibilities and improve the pathological negativity towards WHS in the region?

  Council