Candidates nominate for NSW Council elections
Ricky Chugha will run for Griffith City Council in September on Christine Stead’s ticket. Picture: Stephen Mudd.
As announced today on August 4, 2016, Kulwinder Singh Chugha under the Ballot name Ricky Chugha is standing from Griffiths for Griffiths Council and Mathuranatha Das from the area of Byangum for Tweed Heads Council are two Indian candidates who are contesting in local council elections in NSW that will be conducted on September 10, 2016. Further deadline is Wednesday, August 10 for more candidates to nominate.
Kulwinder Chugha, more commonly known as ”˜Ricky’, is the IT manager at South Pacific Seeds, will be running on veteran councillor Christine Stead’s ticket at the September 10 election.
“I think council needs young people and new ideas,” Mr Chugha said. “I want to work with everyone to make a Griffith we can be proud of and a place for all people and cultures. We’re not made up of two or three communities, Griffith is one multicultural community and together we can work for the betterment of all.”
The 30-year-old father of two went to the University of Ballarat where he earned a degree and masters in IT before working for News Corp Australia. Mr Chugha moved to Griffith in 2011 due to family commitments and his parents migrated to Griffith this year.
“Griffith is my home,” Mr Chugha said. “I really like the multicultural community and I want to see the whole community represented on the council. I want to represent the views and concerns of everyone to council so we can make Griffith a better place for everyone.”
Cr Stead said she was happy to be running with Mr Chugha.
As at 9am today 447 candidate nominations have been accepted for the 76 councils whose elections are being managed by the NSW Electoral Commission. Numbers are expected to rise sharply between now and the close of nominations at noon Wednesday, 10 August. Candidate names are published online at http://candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au as they are accepted.
Acting NSW Electoral Commissioner Linda Franklin reminded prospective candidates to nominate as soon as possible.
“If you don’t meet the nominations deadline then, unfortunately, you can’t contest the election,” she said.
“To avoid any problems with the nomination, candidates should lodge as early as possible.
A candidate must be properly enrolled in the council they wish to represent and must be nominated by at least two people who are correctly enrolled in the same council area, or by a Registered Political Party.
“Candidates and groups must also be registered with the NSW Electoral Commission before accepting donations or incurring campaign expenses.”
Ms Franklin also reminds candidates about new rules for the election.
“Candidates should be aware that new rules around political donations are in force for these elections. Key changes include limits on the amounts that can be donated to any registered political parties or groups, which are now capped at $5,900, and a $2,600 cap to unregistered parties, councillors, candidates and third-party campaigners. New regulations apply to third-party campaigners including that they must be registered before incurring more than $2,000 on electoral communication expenditure”.
“Candidates, political parties, third-party campaigners and political donors should acquaint themselves with the rules for election campaign finances,” said Ms Franklin.
For information on the rules visit www.elections.nsw.gov.au
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