Joy Knight-Smith

Labor candidate - Lismore city council

I’m 24 years old and I’m here to be a voice for the youth. There needs to be someone on Council who is connected to young people and knows the issues they face in this community.

For too long our young people have been forgotten.

I have lived in the Lismore area my whole life and know what it is like to be a young person in the area. I was born in Lismore Base Hospital, went to Richmond River High School, and am currently completing my final year of a double degree in Law and Arts majoring in Governance and Society.

We are losing our young people to the cities by not catering to them. If we want to keep our community alive and vibrant, we need to look after its members. One way we can to this is to attract industry to the area so as to provide jobs.

One thing I want to see more of is youth-focused infrastructure – and in particular, our skate parks. Lismore’s skate parks are greatly falling behind those of neighbouring towns and villages, and as the regional centre of this area, this should not be the case.

We also need action on climate change from all levels of government, because it’s our future which is at risk.

I am here to look after our young people and bring positive change.