I was born in Nowra, lived in St Georges Basin while parents built house in Cambewarra. Went to Bommo High, finishing at Nowra High because it was more fun, and that’s where my girlfriend was :)

 

Left the area when I finished yr 12 to undertake an indentured Electrical Fitters Apprenticeship at Bayswater and Liddell (coal-fired) power stations, transferring for my fourth year to Kangaroo Valley and Bendeela power stations to get Hydro experience. 

 

I did Electrical Engineering at night-school and later Explosives to become a qualified Powerder-man- a rare qualification these days.

 

I worked in Solar (PhotoVoltaic) development in Sydney at Pacific Solar in 1995, ’96 when Solar panels used to cost $20 per watt ! They now cost around 30c/watt. 

 

I preferred to be self-employed and built up my scrap metal contracting business, working in coal mines, industrial sites, scrapping a power station in Victoria. Ending up in the Snowy Mountains where I bought an industrial property to service NSW contracts recycling electrical substations and powerlines. Alisa and I purchased two solar farms off the State government in 2013 and we have watched that industry and opportunity collapse over the decade. 

 

I have fought corruption and corrupt bureaucracy for too many years, where I realise that while you never win, you also never lose: you learn and adapt.

 

I have watched the Australia I grew up in slide away, to be replaced by an unrecognisable mess of dog-eat-dog, taxation and grifters where we were once THE best country in the whole world to live and raise a family. I despair for the future for my five children aged 16 through to 8, and I fight hard to preserve and restore their rights which are being stripped away on a near-daily basis.

 

Currently a councillor in Snowy Monaro Regional Council, however I am at war with the Office of Local Government where I allege they do not exist and they have given me a second suspension from our council for telling the truth to the people, and upholding my oath of office.

 

Why Kiama: I grew up in the area, the snowy Monaro is a tough place, it's cold, lonely and the majority of people are uninterested in its own future. Maybe after my 20 years on the Monaro, it's time to move my family to the Shoalhaven and offer my skills to people who do care about their future, and what it will or could look like.