There are more than 50 candidates across five wards lining up for your vote this Saturday, December 4.
Labor candidate for the seat of Granville, Ola Hamed said that she was hearing from a lot of residents concerned about the “drastic reduction in the Community Grants Program”, money desperately needed by community organisations to provide support.
“Labor does not support measures by anyone who put profits before people,” she said.
She said while there were also concerns about childcare and overspending, celebrating cultural events such as Christmas, Easter, Australia Day, Ramadan, Lunar New Year and Diwali must also be a priority “because our diversity is our strength”.
Another Granville candidate, Joseph Rahme, who has been a member of the Liberal Party for 15 years, said although he has helped deliver record traffic upgrades and resident safety projects, much more needed to be done around Granville.
He said one of his biggest issues was how to unite the community, getting residents and small business back together.
“Everyone has been through a lot of – especially with Covid and we all need to come together and support each other,” he said.
“We’ve done a lot, but more needs to be done to support small business.
“It’s about ways to elevate the Granville ward.”
Mayor Steve Christou, who is standing for the ‘Our Local Community’ team, said he was hearing a lot of positive feedback about what his team haf achieved over the past four years, especially during the Covid pandemic, and how important infrastructure had been delivered.
“There is a lot of support out there for what we have done, and how we took a stance against the lockdown and stood up for our residents,” he said.
“We are about getting on with the job and helping bring out the best in the city.”
