Alec Gargett

Hi. I'm Alec Gargett, and I'm running as a candidate for Boorman.

I was born in the Mitcham area in 1988 and have spent almost all of my life in Boorman.
I attended the University of Adelaide, and have a BA and two graduate certificates, one in International Security and the other in Data Science.
On top of this, I've spent an additional 15 years teaching myself other relevant skills and knowledge, and doing the deep thinking that is lacking from parliament, and now I have a plan.

Watch a few of my videos or skim through my website and decide for yourself if I have the problem-solving skills and analytical skills that are needed in local government.
If you think I do, I'd appreciate your support as your Candidate for Boorman.

You can find me on social media using the links above. My facebook page is the best place to support me and watch a couple of videos, and my Youtube page is the best place to watch additional videos.

My initial policies

Since I will work for the people of Boorman, my priorities have to be determined by the people of Boorman. I will always be seeking to further improve my policies and ensure they are aligned with the wishes of the electorate, including in response to feedback from the people of Boorman. Please send any feedback to alecgargett@gmail.com.

If I'm elected, I will continue to develop these policies, make more short videos to explain each of them, and add a comment section to this website so that others can contribute.

One of the first things I will do if elected is to use the resources of my office to survey the people of Boorman to democratically determine what my priorities will be.

The following contents list also serves as a summary of my policies for those who aren't interested in every detail.

Fix what's broken

Protect the beauty of our suburbs, our hills and our environment

Stop destroying the beauty of our suburbs.

Ban the destruction of beautiful homes, gardens and heritage buildings against the will of the community and any developments that deface the Adelaide Hills.

Expand protections for our wild animals and our natural environment.

Ensure the council is free from corruption and make our system more democratic

Fight for integrity, transparency and accountability in local government.

Call out the federal government for underfunding South Australia

Pollution, traffic congestion and the algae crisis

Call on the federal government to address the pollution contributing to the algae crisis and the climate crisis

The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) is our state equivalent to the CSIRO, but unlike the CSIRO it is part of another department, the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), which is effectively the mining and farming department. This creates an inherent conflict of interest, since research cannot be unbiased if it's all designed to benefit the mining and farming industries. In fact, in many cases such as the algae crisis, our farming industry has a strong interest in preventing good research and honest communication about the causes of this crisis.

We need to:

• Make SARDI independent from PIRSA and other government departments
• Reform the leadership of SARDI, which currently has close ties to the farming industry, to ensure independence from industrial lobbying and honest communication about the main causes of nutrient pollution in the gulf. According to the most recent federal report, this includes sewage water and agricultural runoff.
• Require SARDI to quantify all major sources of nutrient pollution in the gulf and investigate solutions. Such solutions may include:
  • Purify Adelaide's sewage water (like Perth does) so that the remaining high-nutrient sludge can be disposed of some other way;
  • Measure the contribution of our industries to pollution and incentivise them to switch to methods or industries that cause less pollution;
  • Lead the world in reducing climate crisis pollution, including from transport and agriculture (the two main pollution sectors in South Australia) as detailed below.
• Put the EPA in charge of the science communication, and give them the resources to do this.

The EPA so far have done a much better job of communicating the causes of harmful algal blooms, and have admitted that nutrient pollution in general is a major factor, but even they have not mentioned the contribution of our own sewage water and agricultural runoff, which were both mentioned in the 2000 federal Inquiry into Gulf St Vincent.

Call on the state and federeal governments to reduce traffic congestion and pollution; take climate action

Demands on the state government

Reduce all major pollutants by over 50% every 5-10 years, aiming for at least 75% total reduction in CO₂e in both GWP20 and GWP100 within 10-15 years (below current levels). This means doubling or more than doubling the government's current rate of reduction of 50% over the last 18 years. Major atmospheric pollutants in South Australia are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane, nitrous oxide (N₂O), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and particulate matter including black carbon.

Provide much higher frequency and higher quality public transport and workplace policies that reduce commuting at rush hour. Greatly increase the frequency of bus services with a new electric bus fleet. Make every second bus on each route free. Introduce more bus lanes to bypass traffic. Build a bench with a shelter at every bus stop feasible. A higher frequency and quality of public transport services will not only reduce traffic congestion, but also reduce overcrowding on the buses, trains and trams themselves.

Support active transport with bike paths and walking paths.

Reduce agricultural emissions by ending subsidies for slaughterhouse products and using this to support environmentally friendly protein sources instead. Tax the export of slaughterhouse products according to the total pollution created. Parliament or the Quality of Life Commission could regulate the local sale of related products to guarantee supply of these products continues at a fair price for locals.

Make it easier to buy an EV:

• Eliminate taxes on electric vehicle purchases;
• Provide zero-interest or low-interest loans for electric vehicle purchases under Policy 1.1_Efficiency_Loans;
• Make charging stations free at times when there is an oversupply of electricity on the grid;
• Require an adequate number of charging stations in every parking area;
• Extend Labor's home battery scheme to vehicle-to-home (V2H) chargers, so that people can use their EV battery as a home battery.

South Australia gets about 80% of our electricity from renewables, which puts us second after Tasmania, and first when it comes to solar and wind combined. In fact, when it comes to solar and wind combined, we are ahead of every country in the world, and ahead of every state in the United States. This puts us in a unique position to lead the entire world when it comes to addressing the other two biggest pollution sectors: transport and agriculture. Electricity production makes up less than 40% of global greenhouse gas pollution, and less than 20% in Australia, so it is essential that South Australia demonstrates to the whole world how to eliminate pollution in other sectors in a way that provides maximum benefit to the state.

Australia and South Australia currently only measure local emissions, which includes emissions caused overseas by our imports and exports. We need to also:

Measure total embodied emissions, which includes emissions caused overseas by our imports and exports, and set a target for reducing this, making reductions in this number the priority, and influencing other countries to do the same.

Global action

There are two ways to influence the climate crisis on a global scale.

• Leadership. Demonstrate to the world that pollution can be reduce in a beneficial way, so that they want to follow our lead, or need to follow our lead to stay competitive.
• Coordination. Work with other countries to develop global incentives such as tax incentives and other incentives in order to motivate all countries to take adequate action.

In South Australia, where we have already lead the world in solar and wind power, the next step, along with stabilising the grid and reducing electricity prices, is to lead the world in reducing climate crisis pollution from other sectors, including from transport and agriculture (the two main pollution sectors in South Australia) as detailed in the "Local action" section above.

Improve climate disaster preparation. Call on the state government to commission a report into this and establish an agency for it.

Ensure the state government's promises on the Belair train line are properly implemented

Call on the state government to properly implement their promises on the Belair train line, and take into account the other upgrades that are needed in the future.

Currently, trains going in opposite directions share the same track on the Belair line and have to wait for each other to pass. Reduce this issue by duplicating the track wherever feasible. Once these works are done, electrify the line. Once these upgrades are complete, expand the Belair train line to Mount Barker.

A shuttle bus from Mitcham to Belair would also be very useful, since it's faster to go by road than by rail between those two points, and it'd be useful for people who have just got off the train at Mitcham or Belair to get on a bus that waits at the station for the train passengers. In fact, even from Glenalta, it might sometimes be quicker to the city to get the train to Belair and get the shuttle down the hill to Mitcham.

Prevent harm to public wellbeing

I will generally support any measure to prevent harm to public wellbeing.

If feasible, reopen the Blackwood Hospital.

If feasible, reopen the emergency department at the Repat.

Require all venues and vending machines selling soft drink to sell more diet soft drink options than regular soft drink options.

Education and Music

• 18.1.4 Fight to ensure libraries are well funded and indexed to match CPI inflation, and oppose cuts.

Support local artists

• Pay our best musicians including classical and jazz musicians to play unamplified music in our public spaces, including our shopping districts.

Support any measure against cruelty and violence towards animals

I will always support measures to prevent cruelty and violence, and will look for areas where I can get support from other members of parliament. This includes cruelty and violence towards all animals.

Upcoming policy

Although this is more detail than any other state-level political party or independent candidate that I'm aware of, I have even more detail to come, including how to improve our political system, and how to improve the government's regulation of social media.