Former Geelong Trades Hall Council (GTHC) secretary Tim Gooden has been preselected as the Victorian Socialists lead candidate for the Western Victoria Region Legislative Council electorate in the November state election.
Gooden is a lifelong trade unionist who has consistently fought for the rights of working class people, including as GTHC secretary for 13 years.
Gooden has also been involved in many local social and environment campaigns. For the past five years, he has been a co-convener of the Combined Refugee Action Group in Geelong.
As a member of parliament, Gooden has pledged to continue being a strong voice for working class people.
Gooden told 91自拍论坛 Weekly: 鈥淲orkers in regional Victoria need a strong voice. It seems the further from Melbourne you go, the less access to services you have.鈥
鈥淚t is unacceptable that in the 21st century, we are still privatising things such as health services, leading, for example, to the loss of 38 jobs at Barwon Health linen care鈥, Gooden said.
鈥淚n addition to privatisation, we are also seeing the outright cutting of services, such as radiology in Torquay.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to just represent people; I want to help them to fight for their future,鈥 Gooden said.
If elected, Gooden will take the wage of an average skilled worker, with the rest of his salary going to community campaigns.
Gooden will be joined on the Victorian Socialists ticket by Nada Iskra.
Born and bred in West Geelong, Iskra has worked all her life in factories and heavy industry.聽She was one of only a handful of women to be employed in the Alcoa pot rooms and was the last woman there, working at the company for thirteen years.
Nada has sat on the GTHC executive and is now an office manager at Geelong Trades Hall after studying at TAFE.聽
A dedicated feminist and strong campaigner for women鈥檚 rights, Nada has been a co-convenor of the Geelong Women Unionists Network.
The Otway Ranges are an important part of Nada鈥檚 and her family鈥檚 life, making environmental issues a priority for her.
Victorian Socialists will also be running Sarah Hathway as its candidate for the legislative assembly seat of Geelong.
Hathway works as a union organiser and has previously run in local and state elections in Geelong.
She played a lead role in local campaigning for marriage equality through her involvement in Geelong Rainbow Inc and Say Yes Geelong.
Over the past six years, Hathway has been active in a range of local campaigns in defence of public health care and education and for environmental protection.
Like Gooden and Iskra, Hathway is a member of the Socialist Alliance Geelong branch.
[Victorian Socialists鈥 Western Victoria Region campaign launch will be held at Geelong Trades Hall on September 13, 6pm.]