Liberal candidate for Burt Matt O’Sullivan says employment is the best form of welfare and he hopes to turn the area’s societal issues around with the help of business.
Aubin Grove resident Mr O’Sullivan is the head of Generation One, an organisation aimed at connecting unemployed indigenous Australians with employers.
He said his experience there would put him in good steed to attack some of the issues around unemployment, crime and drug use.
“The best form of welfare is a job. I’ve seen the transformative impact that a job has on people’s lives” he said.
“I was a youth worker for many years and I was constantly dealing with social issues but these were all the symptoms of more systemic problems within community.
“A lot of that comes back to long term welfare dependency poverty.
“When you alleviate poverty by empowering someone to get a job and make a difference in their own lives so many other issues change for the better.”
Mr O’Sullivan said the Coalition’s plan for jobs would work to get people employed but if elected he would also go out into the community and use his industry experience.
“I would work with the existing service providers that are here, I’ve got extensive networks with employers and industry,” he said.
Mr O’Sullivan said politics was always something he was interested in and when the boundary for Burt included areas like the suburb of Thornlie where he grew up he put his hand up.
“I’ve been working a lot with the government for over a decade and I’ve seen the sort of influence that you can have from the outside and you can do some wonderful things,” he said.
“But there were certain things that I think you really need to be inside the decision making process to really bring the change and the transformation that the community needs.”
Mr O’Sullivan looked forward to watching infrastructure projects like the Armadale Road widening and the Nicholson Road Bridge come to fruition.
He said with suburbs like Piara Waters growing, the North Lake Road Bridge had ‘to be done at the right time’ but did not say whether the Coalition would provide funding for it before July 2.
