Click here to listen to the interview!

Geraldine Mellet: Well, it looks like the fight for the seat of Churchlands has heated up with an independent candidate who's now throwing their hat into the ring. For the Liberals, it doesn't get much more crucial than Churchlands. That's because it's the seat they've chosen for Basil Zemplas, the Lord Mayor, widely regarded as the future of the party. At the same time, that seat is currently held by Labour's Christine Tonkin. So who is vying to pip both of them to the post? Meet the new woman on the block, Lisa Thornton.

Lisa Thornton: Independent candidate for Churchlands. Thank you very much for joining us, Lisa.

Lisa Thornton: Thank you Geraldine and hi listeners.

Geraldine Mellet: Can I ask first off why do you want to throw your hat in the ring?

Lisa Thornton: Well, the main reasons are because I'm a local. I absolutely adore my community. I've always been involved in local community matters with local advocacy. I support local community groups and I'm also a local councillor.

Geraldine Mellet: Is that the same for both other candidates in that they are both locals too?

Lisa Thornton: I believe they are. I mean, you usually have to live in the area, don't you?

Geraldine Mellet: You're a councillor for the City of Stirling. Interested in how that's informed your approach to politics?

Lisa Thornton: Well, it's given me a great introduction into politics. It's taught me a lot about what the community wants, listening, and putting your beliefs aside to focus on what the community wants first.

Geraldine Mellet: I understand that one of your key priorities is transparency in politics, including establishing a donation wall on your website. Is that already online or when will that be available for voters?

Lisa Thornton: Yes, so we have a website, it's live, it's lisathornton.com.au and there's a donate button and also a live supporters wall and there's already, as you can see, donations up there.

Geraldine Mellet: You're being touted as a Teal in some ways. Are you formally a Teal? Is this similar to Teal campaigns we've seen at the 2022 federal election?

Lisa Thornton: We’re not a party at all. We operate independently and we're really dependent on what our community wants.

Geraldine Mellet: And when you say we, who is that?

Lisa Thornton: Well, I was actually asked to run as a candidate by the community group Churchlands Independent. So they're their own group of locals. They came together because they’re like most people, they're sick of party politics and they want to go back to grassroots decision-making.

Geraldine Mellet: Talking of party politics, there's been some very interesting politics around Basil Zemplas and the whole polling issue that happened recently, contesting the leadership of the Liberal Party. But Basil is a really well-known figure. I mean, you can't buy that kind of publicity.

Lisa Thornton: Having a high profile doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a good representative. Basil will do Basil. I'll be listening to our residents and acting on what’s most important to them. I'm going to run my own race with my community.

Geraldine Mellet: But equally, Christine and Basil could say exactly the same thing. We listen to the residents, we're representing them. What is it that's different about you? How do you manage to position yourself when you're coming up against two very well-known people, one of whom's already in power?

Lisa Thornton: Well, I'm not going to pay too much attention to what they're doing. I'm going to focus on my campaign and go out there and listen to my community and represent my community.

Geraldine Mellet: OK, is it hard to though, to compete? You're the newcomer. So how, as a newcomer with, I presume, a sort of limited budget, do you get yourself out there? Do you get enough traction publicly?

Lisa Thornton: Well, if you have a look at the community independent movement around Australia and also in the eastern states, it's been highly successful. So it's not like it's a new movement. It's people moving away from party politics and doing politics differently.

Geraldine Mellet: I mean, Liz Constable represented the seat as an independent for 17 years, didn't she?

Lisa Thornton: Exactly. And it's been held by an independent longer than it's been held by any party politician. I think there's a strong appetite for the residents and the electorate of Churchlands to vote for an independent.

Geraldine Mellet: Do you feel that you can take some lessons from what she achieved and have you met her?

Lisa Thornton: Definitely. I am going to be meeting her soon. We've chatted on the phone and she's seen what she's achieved and yeah, she should be a good person to follow in her footsteps.

Geraldine Mellet: We talked briefly about transparency and politics being one of your key policies. What other issues do you want to advocate on?

Lisa Thornton: So the community independent or the Churchlands Independents did run a survey and the four key issues were sustainable development, housing, and integrity in politics. So they're going to be the main key issues to start off with and then it's going to be about listening to what else people want.

Geraldine Mellet: They're big-ticket items. If we go to sustainable development, what does that look like? What are people saying to you about that in Churchlands?

Lisa Thornton: People want to see sustainable development and infill done right. We know that we're in a housing crisis, but we also need to bring the community along too. There’s a real sentiment that the government has stripped away community consultation. In WA, we're actually the only state that doesn't have third-party appeal rights in the State Administrative Tribunal. I think it's really important when you bring the community along with you in making these decisions, because you'll get the greatest and best outcomes.

Geraldine Mellet: So will that be something you're fighting for, third-party rights?

Lisa Thornton: That's going to be a key platform issue.

Geraldine Mellet: It sounds really interesting what you're proposing and it obviously is a big task ahead of you, but all power to you, Lisa Thornton. Good luck.

Lisa Thornton: Thank you very much, Geraldine.

Geraldine Mellet: Lisa Thornton. She is the new independent candidate for Churchlands.