Narrabeen married couple Anthony and Sharni Monaghan will be candidates for the NSW Legislative Council (Upper House) at the State election on Saturday 23 March 2019.
“We’re fed up with the antics coming out of Macquarie St,” Mrs Monaghan says.
“People around the beaches and other parts of New South Wales are concerned about the reliability of NSW Government services and planning integrity,” she says.
“We’re standing to give an unstinting voice to those concerns. A vote for us is a vote for all NSW voices.”
Mrs Monaghan, a solicitor for more than 20 years, is principal of Greylings Attorneys, Mosman, where her husband, a former Sydney barrister and journalist, is employed.
The couple will be a group together under their own name on the Upper House ballot paper. Ballot paper positions will be determined this coming week after the close of nominations for the general election to be held 23 March.
Mrs Monaghan says the State Upper House will provide a powerful platform to agitate on behalf of people in and around the former Warringah Shire, and all other parts of New South Wales.
“Will we win two places? The odds are against us, I think, but you don’t know if you don’t try,” Mrs Monaghan says.
Mrs Monaghan listed immediate concerns about the development of the new Northern Beaches Hospital and the substantial downgrading of Mona Vale Hospital and the closure of Manly Hospital, as well as over development and inappropriate high rises in other parts of the city.
Mrs Monaghan is chairman of the strata body for the couple’s home in Narrabeen, a 45-unit complex completed in 2000 and subsequently plagued by building defects until repaired in recent years.
“The repairs cost more than $6 million, which loss was caused by unreliable building certification,” Mrs Monaghan says.
“We’re also concerned about the integrity of State Government construction contracts management,” Mr Monaghan said.
“A strong and vigorous ICAC is high on our list for improvements for NSW administration.”
The couple agreed public health services required improvement around the State.
“We will also press for NSW land titles registrations to be brought back to government administration because the privatisation experiment has exposed risks to people’s property security and values,” Mrs Monaghan says.
“State insurance arrangements are unsatisfactory. We think the State Government should reconstitute the government insurance office to keep premiums affordable across the whole range of business and private insurances.”
Mr and Mrs Monaghan say they want to see improvements for teachers’ conditions in schools, TAFE and universities.
“Education is a bedrock of our State’s future prosperity. In Parliament we will press for every school to be properly funded,” Mrs Monaghan said.
“Indeed all public servants and private employees should be confident of their career futures.”
In their professional endeavours, the Monaghans are exposed to all aspects of government actions around New South Wales.
“Many of our clients are from the country, and we understand the challenges facing people, say, from Albury, Bathurst, Tamworth or Bega, as well as the metropolitan pressures people are facing,” Mrs Monaghan says.
“Professionally we work to the advantage of our clients, defending them from disadvantage, and that is the inspiration for our bid for parliament.”
Mr and Mrs Monaghan are not associated with any political party, and they fund their campaign themselves.
But don’t call them independents.
“In fact, we are dependent on all our neighbours, who are the people of New South Wales. We are a community which deserves best standards of government, and that’s not forthcoming from Macquarie Street at the moment,” Mr Monaghan said.
