Angela4Lyons, 181 Everton Lane, White Hills (2025)

24/04/2025

25th April 2025 Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga which commemorates Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soilders who landed at Gallipoli in WW1 and more broadly honours the contribution and suffering of all Australians, New Zealanders and Tongans who have served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

Thinking of conflicts and suffering on this day and remembering that my paternal grandfather Francis James Offord (not pictured) served with 2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion deployed to the Middle East and Borneo WW2.
My maternal grandfather, Lesley Rogerson, deployed to New Guinea served with the RAAF and his brother, Ken Rogerson deployed to New Guinea in WW2.
My great grandfather Sydney Rogerson deployed to France WW1.

Beautiful dawn service at Westbury this morning followed by a convivial breakfast hosted by Westbury community groups. Thank you.

24/04/2025

Day 27 Campaign Trail

Out letterboxing Brighton and Old Beach and talking with people while the major party candidates making the most of media opportunities with policy announcements and spending promises (not backed up with the necessary cuts or increased taxes) some based on important local government projects in those parts of the marginal electorate of Lyons with a large voter base.
For eg/ Boyer clean energy transition (great for New Norfolk and the Derwent Valley), St Mary’s Pass (great for Break O’Day municipality)

There have been broader policy announcements too: health (bulk billing, ICCUs), crime (domestic violence laws), defence (spending increases), immigration (cuts), housing (different measures to increase supply and assist with affordability), not so much on the environment, animal health and welfare and accountability.

Macro v micro and local issues/ policy. There are gender and age and regional v urban, education, income and housing owner v renters v building v mortgage differences/ divisions/ inequities. I havent heard alot about addressing youth homelessness and women in their 50s facing homelessness with less superannuation than their male counterparts.

The election results may well reflect local area issues.

Early voting numbers are high with over 1 million Australians out of X entollef to vote having voted already.

22/04/2025

Day 26 Campaign Trail

Today I am pondering the significance and influence on an election outcome of How To Vote Cards (HTVC).

HTVCs (which are in fact for this election A4 page coloured brochures that would have been expensive to print) are printed guides that show voters how a particular person or group wants you to fill out your ballot paper.

In the Australian lower house preferential system of voting, that we are fortunate to have, your vote will count. You must number every candidate on the ballot paper in order for your vote to be formal and count. Even if your number 1 is not successful your number 2 or 3 preference and so on will count towards another candidate being elected.

YOUR vote is precious and it will count. So I don’t have an HTV card because I firmly believe that it is YOUR vote and it is therefore YOUR decision to make to vote for the candidates that best match YOUR values and WHO you would like to see elected.

All of this leads me to wonder what it all means when the Greens allocate OFFORD Angela number 2 on their HTVCs and both Labor and Liberal allocate OFFORD Angela number 4 on their HTVCs and why they allocate all of the other candidates the positions that they do.

I understand that it is a strategy that is thought to benefit one person or party over another, punish opponents and lead to policy commitments but does it? Doesn’t this strategy only work if you have made an alliance with another person or party?

How many voters follow HTV cards and therefore how influential are they on an election outcome in the end?
Do we have any data to analyse and support or otherwise HTVCs efficacy ?

In the last federal election 2022 with no one candidate achieving an absolute majority of first preference votes in Lyons (>50%) the subsequent distribution of preferences did significantly affect the outcome.
It will be so interesting to see how it all plays out this election.

21/04/2025

Day 24 Campaign Trail-early voting has started

Some early voting polling places open today in Tasmania with less than two weeks to go before polling day.
Check the AEC website for details.

A peak of early voting occurred during COVID 19.
Early voting is supposed to be for people who will not be able to attend a polling place on polling day but your eligibility is not questioned and certainly amongst my friends and colleagues it has become a matter of convenience.
The AEC are happy to encourage participation given that voting is compulsory.

More than half of all voters this election are expected to cast their votes early.

Note you were able to fill out a postal vote, which is another form of early voting, from last Wednesday.

My concern is that early voting in effect ends the campaign period for that person and if this translates to half of all voters then this raises many questions around, amongst other things, how informed that vote is given that there is just under two weeks of a five week campaign period to go.

Hopefully we can discuss everything around the traditional “campaign period” and methods of campaigning in an electoral matters inquiry post this 2025 Federal Election.

21/04/2025

Day 23 Campaign Trail

Fun fact (not so fun) # 6

The second most common chronic health condition listed for those of us living in Lyons, ABS 2021*, are mental health conditions including depression or anxiety.
Arthritis first and asthma often third.

Tasmania experiences higher prevelance of mental illness compared to the national average and mental health problems contribute to a considerable number of hospital admissions in the state.

The percentage of young people experiencing mental health concerns has increased and Tasmania has a higher youth su***de rate than the national average.

Work related mental health issues as a result of harassment or workplace bullying are prevelant.

Ideally preventative measures would be in place and early identification and mitigation at a local community level occurring so that we see a reduction in crisis end point hospital presentations.

Not many policy announcements have addressed the prevelance of mental health issues in Australia and the dearth of services accessible to Tasmanians in this campaign period.

N.B. In an attempt to address the problem in Tasmania there is the Tasmanian Mental Health Reform Program and new Medicare Health Centres providing access to free mental health care ( there is one in Launceston), the Access Mental Health helpline and the Police, Ambulance, Clinician Early Response (PACER) team provides specialist response for acute mental health and behavioral emergencies.

Mental Health Families and Friends Tasmania and the Mental Health Council of Tasmania are community organisations that offer support, information and resources.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australia’s national statistical agency and an official source of independent information.

*I refer to ABS 2021 statistical data on the demographics of a village, township, suburb, town or municipality in Lyons when gathering information to better understand the places where we live, how we live, what is important to us and how we can best start thinking about any issues of concern.

# politas

20/04/2025

Day 22 on the Campaign trail

2025 easter egg hunt during an election campaign.

20/04/2025

Day 21 Campaign Trail

Fun fact # 5

Different levels of government are tasked to provide different levels of service with some overlay.

Pictured are sticky notes I keep close to hand to remons myself.

Most of us on a daily basis do not distinguish between levels of goverment in this way.
So it is interesting to consider that Federal candidates should be giving due consideration to issues like trade, foreign affairs and defence yet the focus is on easy to understand and explain short term policy solutions and promises from the two major parties to ease cost of living pressures and address housing supply and affordability.

I am listening to opinion on UCCCs and bulk billing from AMA and saying money coming in is great but it is important to consider the best way to spend the money and that supporting current GP practice discussion around evidence consultative evidence based policy will deliver the best policy and outcomes. Spending promises around ICCUs and bulk billing which is poorly considered policy matched by the opposition will not.
Keeping policy announcements to a campaign period is part of the problem.
We need to think about this paradigm and how we can change it and deliver better outcomes for communities rather than populist vote garnering short term ill considered announcements during an election campaign period.

Local government:

State government:

Federal government:

20/04/2025

Day 20 Campaign Trail

I have been thinking a lot about equity and what it means and how policy promises during an election campaign may not address or exacerbate existing inequalities.

The term “equity” refers to fairness and justice recognising that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances.

“Equality” means providing the same to all.

There are great inequities between different demographics in different local government areas within Lyons.
All levels of government are tasked to provide access to services so the people can live safely, be productive and prosper.
There are some distinctions between service provision and some overlay.

20/04/2025

Day 19 Campaign Trail

Fun fact # 4

For the first time Millennials/Generation Y b. 1981-2000 and Generation Z b. 2001-2010 will outnumber Baby Boomers
b. 1946-1964 “going to the polls”.
We should now say “voting” in place of “going to the polls” asvoting habits have changed and postal voting began Wednesday 16th and pre polling early voting starts Tuesday 22nd with polling day 3rd May.

This election campaign has seen big spends by both major parties on social media advertising in an effort to reach younger generations who don’t access traditional media sources for information (television, radio and newspapers).
Instead we have forays into Facebook, Instagram, tick-tock and interviews with social media influencers.
How might this inform or influence voters and which demographic?
The median age of all Tasmanians is 42 and the median age of a person in Lyons is 47.

20/04/2025

Do you wish to help me turn Lyons independent - of a long standng duopoly and large vested interests? Then here is something you can do...

Lyons covers a lot of territory, and there are about 69 polling places (based on previous elections).

Please contact me if you can stand outside a polling place (including pre-poll places) hand out leaflets for me and explain how to make your vote count remembering that you have to number every box on the HoR ballot paper for your vote to count.

Please contact me : [email protected]
https://angelaofford.com.au/volunteer/

19/04/2025

Day 18 Campaign Trail

The paradigm is changing and some candidates and commentators are more aware of this than others.

30 % of voters in the last federal election didn’t vote for one of the major parties and this figure is expected to rise this election.

This week commentators have talked alot about passing the midway mark (Tuesday 15th) of the campaign period and Peter Dutton has said “..there is still a long way to go”.

I disagree. People started filling out their postal votes on Wednesday 16th. Pre polling voting has been increasing exponentially over the last few elections and begins in a few days on Tuesday 22nd April.(convenience not circumstance).

Ostensibly for these early voters any campaigning has finished.
Too late if they change their mind with 11 days to go before polling day.
A waste of campaign effort and campaign material hitting those early voters letterboxes after they have voted.

What will this mean for future elections?

19/04/2025

Day 17 Campaign Trail-Robust policy development takes time

Fun fact # 3

In a situation where a problem is complex and has developed over a long period of time it can be difficult to anticipate the consequences of policy choices and to develop effective solutions in the short term.
Robust policy development takes time.

As an example let’s look at the current housing crisis and policy put forward by both major parties during this election campaign.

It is a sad fact that in marginal seats in Australia, where parties feel they have a good opportunity to contest a seat, many promises and policies will be announced in that electorate to appeal to the voters that live there and people that live in other electorates miss out.

The current housing crisis is a good example.
The crisis is as a result of systemic policy failure to plan for increased housing over 30 years and because wages growth has not kept apace with rising prices.
When an election looms policy is hastily put together without proper consultation and expert opinion and politicians concentrate on an easy superficial vote winning formula.
We are hearing about short term policy fixed from both sides that lack detailed modelling and may well be inflationary driving the price of housing up.
Economists have called it “dumb and dumber” policy.

Whatever your financial position at the time of purchase or renting will determine which policy might work better for you.

My vision is for a change in the paradigm with partisanship set aside and all crossbenchers and parties working TOGETHER on robust longterm policies, like housing and affordable reliable power, to benefit all Australians whether renter, owner, buyer, homeless young people or older women in their 50s.

Immediate measures more supply funding infrastructure, skilled immigration for housing tradies

19/04/2025

Day 16 Campaign Trail

The sign at face value posits that a Tasmanian AFL team and stadium is a binary proposition.

FAQ # 2

Q. What do you think about the granting of a Tasmanian AFL team licence predicated on a roofed stadium at Macquarie Point?

A. 13 months ago I said that I do not understand why the Tasmanian government signed a contract with the AFL, a professional sporting code, that dictated the terms for Tasmania to have an AFL team predicated on building a roofed stadium at Macquarie Point.
No consultation, no transparency, no accountability. Not a good decision to sign that contract.

The state did not then and does not now have the funds to cover the costs and projected cost blowout.
The state has a deficit and debt that precludes spending on such a project while its health and education systems need review and we are in a cost of living and housing crisis as well as there being a need to address the states finances.

In February 2024 the team name and colours were launched and a membership drive initiated whereby you could sign up at a nominal price to become a “founding member” and receive notification of events and product launches. 1000s signed up from all over Australia and from other parts of the world.
Both major parties publicly stated that the launch would be apolitical although I noted that it was the Premiers voice over in the launch video.

Fast forward to the last few months and there has been much discussion not only over having the seemingly non negotiable team deal tied to the stadium but about whether the state can afford a roofed stadium at Mac Pt and whether we need a new stadium right now given that York Park has hosted the Hawks AFL team for 24 years.

Now I am big on integrity, fiscal responsibility, due process, expert opinion, transparency and accountability- none of which I am seeing.

Instead I am hearing blatant disregard for public opinion, for expert opinion, for due planning process, a lack of transparency around any of this decision making and now a conflation of founding member numbers with support for a roofed stadium at Mac point

It is completely unacceptable to me that the founding member numbers (of which I am one) are being used by certain politicians as evidence of support for the roofed stadium at Mac Pt.

Politicians and commentators you are on notice- if you continue to use or confuse founding member numbers as support for a stadium at Mac Pt I for one will be withdrawing my membership.

I definitely want and Tasmania deserves to have an AFL team but I didnt agree to the AFL terms and I won’t be used as evidence of support for a stadium that Tasmania cannot afford right now and that an interim planning report has damned.

The Tasmanian government has abandoned the Planning Of State Significance (POSS) process which would have provided for public feedback and helped parliament make an informed decision.
Instead the Tasmanian government has introduced special legislation to bypass the POSS process.

What a terrible undemocratic, short sighted example they have set bypassing correct process and procedure because they disagree with the findings of a report on the project and in their own words “just want to get the job done”.

14/04/2025

Day 15 Campaign Trail

Prospect Vale is a southern suburb of Launceston in the Meander Valley Council area.

The 2021 ABS Census recorded a population of 5,433 in Prospect Vale second only to New Norfolk with the largest population in Lyons of 6,153 people.

The median age of residents in Prospect Vale is 48 with professionals the top occupation employed mostly in hospitals.

Life expectancy 87.

Arthritis followed by mental health conditions and asthma were the long-term health conditions most reported.

Now contrast this with New Norfolk population 6,153, median age 40 with technicians and trades workers the top occupations and other social industry services the top industry of employment.

Life expectancy

Mental health conditions followed by arthritis and asthma were the long-term health conditions most reported.

On Day 7 Campaign Trail I recorded that During WWIl Norske Skog established a large newsprint mill at Boyer downstream from New Norfolk.
A large number of houses and facilities were built on the eastern shore of the Derwent for employees. The mill is a large employer and indirectly supports a number of businesses and jobs within the town.
In 2025 the mill has been sold to a Melbourne businessman who has great plans for revitalising industry and employment in the area.

Availability and affordability of housing, inaccessibility of health services are issues facing residents- it shouldnt matter how old you are or where you live everyone should have access to free public healthcare and housing.
The transition to renewable electrification from coal fired generation an important one to make and may require support.
I talked about the development of the mill industrial precinct in the New Norfolk and Derwent Vally News.
Today the prime minister announced a $24m package to help the Boyer Paper Mill transition to net zero emissions to renewable electrification away from coal fired -the coal used is imported from the mainland.
The mill is the largest industry carbon emitter in the state.
Did you know that there is a coal mine in the Fingal Valley in Lyons that used to supply coal to the Boyer mill? The coal from this mine is used within Tasmania.

11/04/2025

Day 14 Campaign Trail-Declaration of the candidates for the House of Representatives

Declaration of the candidates for the House of Representatives (HoR) Lyons and the draw to determine the order of names on the HoR ballot paper ocurred today.

The first draw assigns a number to each candidate and the second determines the order in which the candidates will appear on the green HoR ballot paper.

Democracy and free and fair electoral processes in action.

10/04/2025

Day 13 Campaign Trail

What I have been hearing and observing all over the electorate of Lyons is that issues and needs vary according to where you live, relative economic advantage or disadvantage and sometimes proximity to the major centres Devonport, Launceston and Hobart.

There are common themes: healthcare, education in Tasmania, accessibilty of childcare, community infrastructure affecting liveability, in some areas housing availability and certainly affordability, cost of living pressures like higher grocery prices and insurance premiums, energy prices. In some areas patchy mobile phone and internet coverage pose serious barriers to study, work and safety.

Equity is very important to me- it shouldn’t matter where you live or how old you are or what gender you are everyone deserves equal access to the services that all of our levels of government are tasked to provide.

Housing, potable water, connectivity, health care services (including GPs, hospital, 24 hour care, mental health services, aged care services, allied healthcare services) are the basics and yet some communities in Lyons dont have this.

Naturally I will be advocating for these basics in those communities that most need them- keeping in mind the bigger picture being that the Tasmanian health and education systems require structural reform.

I have been letterboxing Brighton in the Brighton municipality and have met with Brighton Council to better understand community priority projects.

The 2021 census recorded a population of 19,589 (second largest population of all of the 12 councils in Lyons), median age 35, main areas of occupation social services, supermarket, hospital and aged care. Arthritis and mental health conditions are the most significant chronic health conditions recorded.

Walking around Brighton and listening to residents I contemplate again the comparisons and contrasts that exist between different municipalities and issues and needs experienced by those communities contained within with only a non physical border seperating them.

10/04/2025

Day 12 Campaign Trail

The Southern Midlands municipality covers a large geographical area 2,561 square km.

The region is bisected by the north- south rail route and the Midland Highway extending from Tunbridge in the north, south through Elderslie and Broadmarsh in the southwest across to Campania, Runnymeade and Bagdad in the south east.

2021 ABS census data records a population of 6,000 for the municipality with a median age of 44.

Traditionally a rural based economy growing sheep 🐑 with superfine wool, areas like Oatlands, Kempton, Bagdad and Campania are growing and lots of subdivisions are going ahead. People and families are moving to these areas that are within commuting distance to Brighton and Hobart.
Infrastructure is needed to keep apace the growth and make these areas highly liveable.

Like most areas in Tasmania there are mobile and internet black-spots.
Like most areas in Tasmania mental health conditions are the second most recorded chronic health condition after arthritis in the population.
Like most areas in Tasmania accessing mental health services is problematic.

Travelling up Spring Hill today (the highest point on the Midland Highway) I was delighted to see three wedge tailed eagles 🦅 gliding and soaring in the sky above.

Angela4Lyons

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