Social issues and growth front of mind as Ken Kelly announces campaign to become City of Albany mayor

Ken Kelly has become the second person to announce they will campaign to become the next mayor of Albany at this year’s ordinary government election. The election, set to place in October, will signal the retirement of Dennis Wellington and see the community elect its first new mayor in 12 years. Mr Kelly said he had decided to put his name forward because he had a lot to give back to the community that had given him plenty of opportunities. “I’m going in it mainly to show young Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people if you have the courage to stand up and make a difference, maybe you can,” he said. “Don’t be scared of where you’ve come from, or your background. “If you feel you have the support of the community and that have the knowledge and experience then have a go, because you never know unless you give it a go.” The 52-year-old was born in Katanning and then attended Albany Senior High School in the 1980s. He moved away from the region to broaden his experience and has worked in various State and Federal government departments, as well as having experience on a number of boards and committees. During that time, he said he still considered Albany and the Great Southern “home” before moving back about six years ago. “I wanted to bring those experiences back to pair them with the connection I do have with the community,” he said. “Just to pay back the community for the opportunities provided to me.” Key areas of his platform will focus on helping ensure Albany continues to grow as a vibrant place to raise a family, get an education and work. He committed to holding a local referendum on local trading hours if elected because best practice should reflect “what works best for the consumers” and “it’s for the community to say we want change”. “One of the opportunities that COVID presented us with was an exposure to the State in regard to Albany as a place to visit,” he said. “We have all these amazing sites, not only locally but with towns like Mt Barker, Denmark and Bremer Bay and there still are small pockets of places which are still to be discovered by people. “At the moment, when people come down here, you walk downtown on a Sunday and it’s a ghost town.” He said he wanted to promote opportunities for young people to stay in the region longer through more full university courses being offered in Albany along with more bridging courses that can then be completed elsewhere. He also said he would raise awareness of and advocate for better services to address pressing social issues, including homelessness, family violence and suicide. “(Local government) can raise awareness of a lot of social issues and advocate and there are also some local changes we can make as well,” he said. “If we are going to increase the population what we need to do is follow that up with services otherwise there is an imbalance. “If we grow on one hand we need to grow on the other hand.” Mr Kelly said his experience working with local governments through his departmental roles and committee and board responsibilities positioned him well to take on the duties of the City’s highest elected member despite having not previously been on a local government. “A lot of the roles I worked in, a fair bit of it was actually working with local governments up in Rockingham and Kwinana,” he said. “The council is voted by local people to address local issues, so for me being on council is a way of paying back the community, but it’s also working for the community.” Another policy Mr Kelly is set to campaign on involves upgrading the Albany Regional Airport so that it can handle interstate flights. “If you were to extend the runway, people could fly directly to over east from here to visit our sights instead of having to go to Perth then drive four hours down, it quickly becomes a 12-13 hour trip to get here,” he said. “If we were able to shorten that people would stay here a lot longer and spend more money here, not only in Albany but in the region as well.” Mr Kelly joins Greg Stocks as the second candidate to confirm they will campaign to become Albany’s next mayor. Official nominations for the October election are expected to open at the end of August. Mr Kelly said whether people wanted to vote for people or not they should exercise their right to enrol and vote in the election. “People need to vote,” he said. “The turnout for local government vote is very low, but then people complain about what the council does. “Don’t complain, get out there and be active, which is what I’m doing.”