I was born in the south-eastern

province of China, fled the Communist

Regime in 1949, raised by my widowed
mother, educated at a Presbyterian Col-
lege in Hong Kong and completed my
Civil Engineering qualification in Aus-
tralia in 1965.
I gained my professional experience
through working in three Victorian shires,
then three years in Bordertown and three
years with Tea Tree Gully City Council
before I was appointed City Engineer with
the Cities of Munno Para and Elizabeth in
1975, a position I held until 1997. I took
up a sea change position with Kangaroo
Island Council in 1998 and retired in
2005, afterwards spent two years in pri-
vate practice.
I am happily married to Clare who
grew up on a farm in Victoria and have a
family of four children and eight grand-
children all living in Adelaide. We have
resided in Kingscote since 1998 and call
Kangaroo Island our home.
Q1 - While I do not oppose the
Commissioner Bill, I am not fully con-
vinced that it is a solution to the prob-
lems, as I cannot see replacing the KI
Future Authority with a Commissioner
would have made any difference to the
current situation, except giving more
power and control to the state with less
decision making by the local community.
What the islanders really need is for the
state government to give us back the
tourism dollars taken from KI, so that
Council can maintain tourist infrastruc-
ture without having to rely solely on rev-
enue income collected from rates.
Q2 - I will continue to push for cap-
ping Councils rates and charges as this
can be achieved by reducing the current
level of extravagant spending on non-es-
sential and unnecessary items. Without
making a hard decision on this, the island
community will no longer be able to afford
living here. In my view, the new Council
must focus on the delivery of core services,
such as safer roads and footpaths and
rubbish collection.
Q3 - Definitely yes, as no doubt the
new ferry service will not just provide an
extra passenger transport option, but will
create competition (hence lower ferry
fares), boost tourism, stimulate local econ-
omy and have other indirect benefits for
the island community. Obviously, there
will be some negative impact from the
new service, however providing that
Council would address the issues when
the need arises in the future, I will give
my full support.
Q4 - With the current depressed
real estate market, high state taxes and
Council rates and
charges, rising
Council debt, ageing
public infrastruc-
ture plus other eco-
nomic issues
confronting the is-
land, I see the fu-
ture on KI is not
looking too bright,
unless the new
Council would go
back to the basic
needs of the local community and refrain
from spending money on non-essential
services, such as the proposed change of
Kingscote house numbers, otherwise in
five years time, the situation will get
worse with more businesses closing down
and where only the wealthy can afford to
live on the island.
Ken Liu, 7 Giles Street, Kingscote SA 5223 and 6 Baird
Street, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095
www.theislanderonline.com.au The Islander, Thursday, October 16, 2014 Page 11
Having spent my youth on a soldier settlement
farm on Harriet Road, and permanently back here
since April 2011, I feel I have some knowledge of
the unique requirements of KI.
I am a committed and active member of the
Kingscote CFS, qualified in both urban and rural
fire fighting, and that, along with my voluntary
work with the KI Health Service, constitutes my
main activities.
Local seniors and KIHS residents' excursions,
home delivered meals and patient transport to
medical appointments are my many duties with
the Health Service. Being on the committees of
Advance Kingscote Progress Association and the
KI Players, as well as football umpiring at a minor
level (with varying degrees of acceptance), I keep
reasonably active in the community. Early retire-
ment came at the suggestion of my English-born
wife Ann who enjoys the quiet island lifestyle.
Q1 to Q4 - Over the past 12 months,
I have served on the Citizens Jury where we as a
group, with much support from state government,
have worked on instigating the KI Commissioner
legislation. We all recognised the importance for
the islands economic future to have a spokesper-
son with direct links to SA cabinet to facilitate ac-
tion on matters unique to KI, a step up from being
treated as just another rural area with propor-
tional funding. With this in place, and the antici-
pation of a major boost to Kingscote and areas
other than the South Coast with the proposed new
ferry service, I am really optimistic for the future
of our economy already beginning to flourish
with the great work done by KI Pure Grain and
other forward-thinking organisations. While not
compromising our lifestyle or natural uniqueness,
I see this community moving forward with steady
positivity in the next few years. I would like to
think that Council could rid itself of negativity
and confrontation, and work toward assisting the
residents with swift and positive outcomes for
their requirements.
Allan Henderson, 2 Drew Street, Kingscote SA 5223
As a contributor and volunteer, I've
served on committees and boards, among
them, the KI Rural Counselling Service, the
KI Development Board, and as treasurer of
the 2000 SA Rural Women's Gathering.
When studying for my teaching qualifica-
tions I volunteered on KICE's Learning As-
sistance Program and have since worked as
a relief teacher across all island campuses.
KI will continue to face many chal-
lenges in the future - Council's budget chal-
lenges, shrinking employment
opportunities, struggling small business,
road maintenance demands, increasing
transport costs, and inappropriate develop-
ments, all as we face reduced support from
both federal and state coffers.
Even as outside influences threaten to
change our unique lifestyle, affect our beau-
tiful environment, fracture our strong com-
munity, we must continue to remain
unique, beautiful and strong. If elected to
Council I will ensure that any decisions
protect and retain those things we love
about KI.
Q1 - The Commissioner needs to
have exceptional skills and abilities. S/he
will have to literally bring together island
leaders each representing health, educa-
tion, primary production, small business,
tourism, environment, policy and council.
S/he will have to be effective in encourag-
ing each leader to put aside their specific
narrow area of focus and apply a holistic
approach to solving the island's challenges.
Q2 -If we want to continue to be a
strong community we should look at what
we do and the decisions we make. It doesn't
matter if you're a farmer, tourist operator,
retail worker, fisher, small business owner,
or a government employee, even if you are
in retirement, you need to consider buying
from an on-island business in the first in-
stance. You need to consider doing this for
each and every purchase. You don't have to
but if you do we can only, as a community,
benefit. And it's because we are all inter-
linked. A child at school provides work for
teachers, cleaners, administrators, and sup-
port staff who, in turn, need to rent or own
properties which need power and water,
tradespeople, furniture, decoration, appli-
ances and garden implements. Every child
needs a doctor, a dentist, food and medicine.
Every single person, no matter how old or
how young, is connected through our com-
munity and is, just by existing, providing
economic security for us all.
Q3 - If a regular passenger ferry
service was operating between Glenelg and
Kingscote, and thus became an extension of
the existing Glenelg tram, to and from the
city, it might become a virtual road to pros-
perity; increasing tourist numbers, fun-
nelling them into Kingscote benefiting the
financial hub. That said, the focus for me is
not on the ferry service itself but on the
wharf. The wharf, and its stunning sur-
rounds, is an asset that just sits there as a
pleasant sleepy backdrop when it is just
itching for small cafes, music, speciality
shops, arts and craft, but this is just a
dream. Without the numbers, without the
people, nothing will happen. Mind you, the
ferry service could make it a reality.
Q4 - It's 2019
and we've really
been seeing the re-
sults of the work
that was begun five
years ago. It was
clearly a combina-
tion of the BuyLocal
initiative and the es-
tablishment of the
Co mmi s s i o ne r ' s
Committee. One,
just a small but ef-
fective everyday effort, while the other, the
result of an ambitious plan to unite health,
small business, tourism, primary industry,
natural resources, education, policing and
council services. Suddenly we were all
going in the same direction but this only
happened after our community leaders
started working together. Not that difficult
in retrospect as we all wanted the same
thing; a thriving island community, safety,
opportunity, and freedom.
Sara Hourez, Rock Farm, 784 North Coast Road, Wisanger
SA 5223
I am a third
g e n e r a t i o n
Kangaroo Is-
lander, with
both my par-
ents being chil-
dren of soldier
settlers. After
growing up on
KI, I moved
away to study
agriculture and
education at
university before travelling exten-
sively and learning a little about
the world. Returning to KI in
2004 with a new husband, we
built our house and set about
building a successful business.
Now a family with two young chil-
dren, I understand the life we
lead on KI - what our children,
community, businesses and serv-
ices both struggle with and thrive
upon. I believe our children de-
serve the freedom to explore, grow
and thrive on an island rich in
natural beauty, but it is also im-
portant that KI offers economic
security and diverse employment
opportunities through sustainable
business and industry develop-
ment. If elected, I aim to make
sensible, informed decisions for
the long-term betterment of the
KI community.
Q1 - I believe that a voice
for KI with a direct link to parlia-
ment, without any direct political
alliance, is a positive step for Kan-
garoo Island residents. I dont be-
lieve that it could be worse than
what we have had so far, rather
I expect it to be a whole lot better.
The quality and outcomes of the
Commissioner's efforts will be de-
termined by the information pro-
vided by Kangaroo Island
residents, community groups, in-
dustry/business and service
groups. Kangaroo Islanders will
need to ensure that we provide a
united voice to the Commissioner,
with quality information and
ideas so that we do have a direct
say in the infrastructure and serv-
ices that we need to grow sustain-
ably.
Q2 - If I am elected to coun-
cil I would like to see an improve-
ment in the household economic
sustainability for the island's res-
idents through thoughtful plan-
ning and development across all
industry sectors.
Q3 - I am in favour of the
new ferry service as it provides
choice for both islanders and visi-
tors. The new ferry service is just
one of a number of positive ideas
that will help to increase visitor
numbers on KI and, provide op-
portunities for businesses (not
only in Kingscote but also the
North Coast, heartland and fur-
ther afield) to benefit. Encourag-
ing visitors to stay one or more
nights, rather than day trip, is a
key factor in improving the eco-
nomic sustainability of the whole
community.
Q4 - I would like to see a
thriving community with a posi-
tive attitude towards the future of
KI; as a place to not only bring up
your children but for them to set
their future (if they so wish). I
think that a good indicator of this
would be to look at our schools
and hopefully see improved enrol-
ments which will, I believe, show
a direct correlation to the number
of families both choosing to stay
on KI and also those moving here
due to improved job prospects.
Sharon Kauppila, 62 Lovers Lane, Kingscote
SA 5223
localnews
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Council elections November 2014
All candidates are listed in alphabetical order
Council candidates continued ...
Allan Henderson
Sara Hourez
Sharon Kauppila
Ken Liu
Allan Henderson
Sara Hourez
Sharon Kauppila
Ken Liu