General News
26 August, 2023
‘Dream team’ hopefuls
AIMING to tackle the housing crisis, youth crime and infrastructure in Cairns head on, three independents – the ‘Dream Team’ as they call themselves, – are former magistrate Pat O’Shane, first-timer Shane Cuthbert and current division 2 councillor Rob Pyne.
Law student at CQU and youth advocate Shane Cuthbert announced his debut candidacy for division 4 (Earlville, Kanimbla, Mooroobool, Manunda and Manoora), currently held by Cr Terry James, who has announced his candidacy for mayor.
A former youth offender, Mr Cuthbert believes youth crime and housing are the crises that need to be prioritised.
“I’ve attended most council meetings over the last 18 months, so I’m up to date across all issues. There’s no other candidates doing this as far as I’m aware,” he said.
“I want to focus on housing, youth crime and justice reforms. Cairns council currently waives development fees for wealthy developers, they have budgeted $6 million to be waived in the next financial year and that’s money that we could be putting into community housing or supporting a homeless shelter.
“When it comes to youth crime, I’ve been advocating for the last four years for a 24-hour youth centre in Cairns because crime peaks between 12am and 2am and most programs only run until 11pm. “I was a youth offender and I’ve changed my life and now I’m hoping to use all of that as tools to make the community better.”
Kuku Yalandji woman and former magistrate and Leichhardt candidate Pat O’Shane will be contesting division 8 (Barron, Caravonica, Smithfield, and the Northern Beaches), incumbent to Ronda Coghlan, looking to create change for the youth at grassroot levels.
“Council is the fundamental political organisation in the city, and there are a lot of issues in this city that need to be addressed. What I want people to understand is that we haven’t nourished a society that cherishes youth in particular,” she said.
“First of all, we need social housing. I don’t think this council in particular has a social housing policy, and we need to address youth crime which is being all blamed on Indigenous youth.”
Now in its third year as a division 2 councillor, Rob Pyne has his eyes set on division 5 (Cairns CBD, Cairns North, Portsmith, Westcourt, Parramatta Park, Aeroglen, Bungalow) to make a “vibrant inner city”.
“Some people in Parramatta Park, Westcourt, Bungalow, have been paying rates for over 100 years and they still don’t have footpaths, so we’ve got to get people in council who will invest in these inner-city areas which I believe offer a prospect of a really awesome quality of life,” Cr Pyne said.
“Investment in infrastructure and access is key for residents, and creating a CBD that people want to go to, we need more trees, more public transport, and better access for people who use their own devices.”
