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“I have this defect called Interested in Everything,” Gordon Cope said.
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“I’m not going to put myself forward for a quiz program but my collective knowledge is pretty broad.”
He may not be putting himself forward for a quiz program, but Mr Cope has put himself forward to stand in the Armidale Regional Council election.
A social worker and lecturer at the University of New England, Mr Cope said listening skills are his biggest asset.
“I’d have to say I have excellent listening skills, a lot of representation is about listening to the people who are your constituents,” he said.
“My intention is to do a mighty lot of that.”
Standing as an independent, Mr Cope believes party-politics should be left out of local Council elections.
“Anybody that’s running on a one party ticket is a flawed candidate, we need to be there for the whole community and understand the issues of the whole community,” he said.
Unemployment is one of the top issues on the ballot paper for Mr Cope. In his opinion, the Armidale region needs to move away from industry and consider niche businesses as a solution.
“Smaller retail stores are struggling, but there are people in niche businesses who are doing okay,” Mr Cope said.
“By the nature of niche industry, they’re not going to employ 100 people – that’s not what it’s about.
“But, if you have enough niche industries you might employ 100 people and it’s amazing what can happen.
“That’s the sector we need to appeal to.”
The University of New England and public and private sectors are the regions biggest economic drivers and moving away from those is a mistake, Mr Cope said.
“It’s a flawed argument because it’s an either, or, solution,” he said.
“I’m not about that – we need to do lots about employment in the town but the education and government sector does really well.
“Leaving those two things is cutting off your nose to spite your face.”