Smith joins council race

Clive Brown’s former press secretary Daniel Smith has thrown his hat into the ring as candidate for the upcoming City of Perth council elections.

Mr Smith will be in the running for one of four council positions to be made vacant.

At this stage it is understood that Bert Tudori, Judy McEvoy, Vincent Tan and Michael Sutherland are expected to seek to be returned when their positions come up for election in May 2005.

James Christou & Partners architect Chris Hardy and television presenter Eleni Evangel are understood to be nominating.

The 31-year-old Mr Smith, who has spent the past few years immersed in one of the Gallop Government’s biggest port-folios, state development, believes the central city is not doing enough to make itself vibrant and attractive to locals and visitors.

“Over the years I have seen so many friends and relatives leave town,” Mr Smith said.

“They move for other opportunities and better cities, young people prefer to live elsewhere.

“We need a critical mass of smart and talented people.”

Mr Smith believes better relationships with the State Government would deliver better outcomes for those in the city, namely the growing number of residents and, more particularly, the great bulk of businesses that mostly fail to vote.

It is believed up to 35,000 representatives of business could have a vote in the council elections but apathy and the registration process have been blamed for a poor turn-out, with residents expected to outnumber businesses at the May poll.

Business rates represent more than 90 per cent of the City of Perth budget.

Mr Smith considers the Perth entry point of the rail link from Mandurah as a “sub-optimal” result derived from poor relations between the city and the State Government.

He thinks liquor licensing in the city needs to be reviewed to ensure the best result, though he is at odds with Lord Mayor Peter Nattrass over the proposed arts centre, believing Northbridge is a suitable location.

“This is something I am passionate about now,” Mr Smith said when asked whether running for a council position was a practice run for state politics.

“There is a window of opportunity to change things.”

While Mr Smith believes Labor has done a good job in state government during the past four years, he is not running as a Labor candidate.

He is critical of Labor’s campaigning when it won office in 2001, when the party attacked the Bell Tower initiative for Perth pushed by the Court Government, which would have led to the extensive redevelopment of the Barrack Square area.

“It [the Bell Tower] became a political football and now it is just a dot on the landscape, and people laugh,” Mr Smith said.

He believes the city has a special place in WA and should get recognition for that.

“If the city centre is attractive people are more likely to come back.”

• Candidates seeking election in May have a week to nominate from March 24.