Profile: Democrats candidate for the seat of Ballina, Ben Smith
Name: Ben Smith (aka Smithy).
Occupation:
IT consultant and small business owner. I love being in small business, small business is the backbone of our community and we have some of the best small business operators in NSW here I think! Very enthusiastic, forward thinking people.
Do you have any hobbies?
I walk every day; I figure it’s a good to get into the habit now for when I’m older! I play golf every week with a bunch of mates, I love sport in general, and I love the outdoors, particularly when you’ve got what we have in our backyard
How long have you lived in the Ballina electorate?
Well over a decade and loving every bit of it, my family has a bit of history around here too, so it’s very much an honor for me to be running for this electorate.
I enjoy every moment here, and I hope that one day the generations after me will be able to do so too.
What are your favourite places in the area?
Shelley’s and Lighthouse beach are definitely favorite places of mine. I also enjoy relaxing out at the Shawsy (Shaws Bay Hotel). But every area is quiet special in its own way, I like driving out past Teven through the forest, it’s very relaxing. You can’t beat chilling out on the beach at Byron either.
Evans Head is also an extremely beautiful place which I love very much; I like Lennox head, particularly the pub. In all honesty, no matter where you are, it’s impossible not to love the area you live in, our entire area is just amazing, I don’t know why anyone would want to live anywhere else!
What are the major problems facing the Ballina electorate?
One word. Development. As I’ve said this is a very special area, and it’s growing quiet rapidly, but that growth needs to be vigorously managed, I don’t want to see our area’s natural beauty and our great community atmosphere compromised simply to make an extra buck.
As a business person, I understand the pursuit of economic growth and financial prosperity, and I support that, but we have to keep it in check with our conscience and what has made this area so great in the first place. This also ties in with the issue of affordable housing which I also feel very strongly about.
One of the other big issues that’s on everyone’s mind, at all levels of government, is climate change. My approach is that we need to do something now, it doesn’t matter how much or what, regardless of whatever political debates people want to argue over, I would like to see us do something about the issue now. A possible idea I would like people to consider would be our electorate becoming a “solar city”, doing a program similar to the solar cities project at federal level. It won’t solve the problem but it’s a good start, 60% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
Small business is also a big issue, our area is experiencing good growth and prosperity, the big guys have noticed this, and have been popping up with their franchises everywhere, small businesses are the backbone of our local community, big business is the backbone of shareholders and corporations in Sydney. I don’t disapprove of big business, but at the same note we need to make sure our small businesses are protected, as they are the true backbone of a community and whatever money you put into a small business, it’ll stay in the community, instead of running off to shareholders elsewhere.
Our local police are also substantially under-resourced for the area that they cover, they do a great job under the circumstances but we need more police, and they need to be better equipped to deal with some of the issues that happen in our area from time to time. But ultimately, that’s only one part of the issue, we need to look at preventing illegal behaviour in the first place! More entertainment outlets for the youth, and more programs to encourage mutual responsibility and inclusive community would be a good start.
What’s your vision of the Ballina electorate in the year 2050?
More of the same of what we have now, except better, more public transportation, better infrastructure, more community involvement, strong small businesses, a great environment to live in but most importantly, a government (or political person) that’ll listen to the needs of our area, and no matter how or what, will come up with ways to make it happen, and won’t blame anyone else for action or lack of action.
