Committee to source best candidates for council






The Whitsunday Ratepayers Association (WRA) has sworn five of its most knowledgeable members to work select and endorse the most suited candidates for the council election.

The chairman of the newly formed group known as the Election Advisory Committee (EAC) is Andrew Marshall and his fellow advisors are David Brooks, Sue Dickinson, Russell Cook and Ross Plowman.

Secretary Tony Moscato said the committee has been set up by the nearly 700 members of the WRA to obtain information about candidates for the council elections, the first time this has ever been done.

"This information will be published to its members for them to choose their endorsed candidates," Mr Moscato said.

Mr Marshall said the region needed integrity, transparency and competency in council. "We need to heal the image of the council and restore confidence in its decision making", he said.

"Voters need to think carefully about the candidates to ensure that they don’t allow a group of councillors to suppress other councillors and waste our money for the benefit of a few greedy people", Mr Marshall warned.

Mr Moscato said that the membership of the WRA was growing strongly and its endorsement of candidates would be a significant indicator of public support.

"Voters need to be WRA members to get the revealing facts or look out for candidates endorsed by the WRA," said Mr Moscato, adding, the WRA intended to have a councillor appointed to liaise with the group so that the community had a voice in council and a watchful eye on their proceedings.