Byron Ballina Greens -> ballinacouncil -> jeffresults

Greens Candidate Tops Poll in Ballina B Ward

Greens Candidate for Ballina B ward, Jeff Johnson, polled well in the Council elections last Saturday, gaining 25% of the primary vote and out polling all other candidates as of close of counting on Saturday night. This is a great result considering that Mr. Johnson was a relatively unknown candidate 6 weeks ago, and that the Greens have never run a candidate for Ballina Council before.

Right: Jeff Johnson and Maggie Luke toast Jeff's election in Ballina. PS the rainbow is real.

Below is a letter from councillor elect Jeff Johnson.

I’d like to thank all of my friends and supporters for helping me to get my message out to the people of B-Ward, and I’d also like to thank the people in B-Ward who have given me the opportunity to represent them on Ballina Council. A lot of people have voted Green for the first time. I appreciate that support and can assure the people of B-Ward that I will be working very hard to achieve environmentally sustainable outcomes for our communities and the Ballina Shire as a whole.

 

‘I campaigned strongly on redirecting Ballina Council’s priorities away from commercial property investments and into investing in community infrastructure like completing the Lennox Head to Ballina commuter cycle way, public recycling facilities, and a greater emphasis on protecting the environment’.

 

Climate change is a big issue that will have very real consequences for coastal and low lying areas. Ballina Council has signed up to the Local Government and Shires Association (LGSA) Mayors Agreement on Climate Change. The agreement commits the Ballina Shire into reducing greenhouse emissions by at least 30% by 2020 based on 1990 levels. ‘Ensuring that Ballina Council has this agreement in mind when making future planning decisions will be a priority for me. We need to ensure that new developments are emission neutral as soon as possible. If the UK can aim to have emission neutral houses by 2016*, surely a sunny country like Australia could do it tomorrow, all that is lacking is the political will.

 

I have the political will and will do the necessary research to prove to my fellow Councillors that zero emission houses are possible. I will also be lobbying the NSW State Government to improve new housing design standards that reflect the communities desire to reduce greenhouse emissions and for Australia to lead the world in developing and marketing renewable energy technologies. 

 

Jeff Johnson

Greens candidate for Ballina Council

 

*The UK Government has introduced a ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’ that legislates binding regulations for energy reduction targets: 25% more efficient by 2010, 44% by 2013, and 100% (or zero emissions) by 2016. The California Public Utilities Commission is also pushing for new housing developments to be ‘zero net energy’ by 2020. (Green Voice, Issue 3, 2008 p. 5) 

Voting System: Proportional Representation (PR)

 

6 candidates contesting 3 vacancies

Candidate	Party	Election Night
		%	FP Votes
OWEN		20	1,241
JOHNSON		25	1,565
MOORE		18	1,081
HOUSE		2	101
CADWALLADER		25	1,556
PERROT		10	626
Total Formal Votes Counted			6,170
Informal Votes			599
Total Ordinary Votes			6,769