Is Janie Finlay Independent or is she looking for somewhere to swing to?

 

Rumours are flowing thick and fast and why wouldn't they be? Councillor Janie Finlay, an ex-mayor for the City of Launceston and recently an independent candidate for Rosevears in the Legislative Council, and now an 'advisor' to the Tasmanian Labour Party, is now looking like she'll be taking a shot Bass for Labor. 

Are you confused? That's us talking to you readers but yes indeed we could be asking Janie. It is all very confusing but hey these days politics is a career and one must take one's chances where one finds them. 

Apparently Janie is going around the traps to see what's there in the way of support. Is it on the wane or is it holding? If she stands, she'll discover all that yet again on May 1.

Speculation aside lets throw a couple of ideas about that she might like to consider. A good place to start would be what the State government could and should be to do with Local Government. Janie could be quizzed quite intensely given the generally poor state of affairs in local governance in both Launceston and Tasmania generally and her direct hands on experience. In fact, she is consistent mover and seconder on a vast array of agenda items.

Janie Finlay is not short on opinions on the full spectrum of issues and she is always there with the winning team even at the most contentious times. If she has ever voted against anything its nothing that stands out in the community she represents and that seems extraordinary.

In any case, it'd be an imperative for Janie Finlay to now do a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats test for local governance in Tasmania – given her expertise. She has wide experience and by now she will know where the bodies are buried but will she tell us or rather those whom she hopes to persuade to vote for her as a Labor candidate.

Janie Finlay as a candidate for Bass might be inclined to discuss local governance's transparency and accountability and perhaps even call a community hall meeting on the topic. There would be a crowd, COVID-19 notwithstanding, ready and willing to listen to her in the company of all the alternative candidates. 

Janie Finlay as a candidate for Bass might also be inclined to speak on 'women's issues' along with the cultural diversity of communities in Tasmania. She might well be able to articulate what employment opportunities she envisages for Tasmania in the short, medium and longer term in the State.

Janie Finlay as a candidate for almost anything can talk on almost anything but this time round she'll need to deliver more than platitudes and unfulfillable parish pump promises. But we are jumping the gun and assuming that she will be a candidate and its the Labor Party that needs to decide who they are going to back in this very winnable State Government election.