Peter Clements is the deputy mayor of

Kangaroo Island Council. He has a strong

business background being one of the
youngest chief executive officers of a public
company in SA in the 1980s and going on
to become the national business develop-
ment manager for a statutory corporation
in Canberra in the 1990s.
Mr Clements was educated in a number
of disciplines including business manage-
ment, finance, economics, and industrial
engineering and more recently in bioethics
with Curtin University.
He trained as a share market technical
analyst in the late 1990s and was a tutor in
computer-based share market derivatives
for a number of years.
He was executive officer to the Regional
Development Board of Central Australia
and principal policy officer for the NT gov-
ernment in 2003.
He currently works as a specialist busi-
ness consultant to industry, although the
last few years have seen him dedicated to
the task of Council affairs.
Q1 - A commissioner for KI will add
significantly to our voice in parliament. We
need to understand that few regions in Aus-
tralia have ever been given the opportunity
to have their own commissioner and Kan-
garoo Islands unique position in South
Australia is deserving of this service.
Under my leadership, Council will
maintain a strong relationship with our
local member and commissioner to ensure
we achieve best results for the community.
Q2 - My leadership will be open and
transparent and I will channel the collec-
tive wisdom of elected members to work
more fully as a team to achieve our goals.
I am positive we can grow our ratepayer
base to bring Council into a much stronger
financial position.
The single thing I will be looking to
achieve is a strong, assertive and switched-
on elected member team that serves the
people, always.
Q3 - Absolutely yes, to grow our
businesses on the island and to make life
easier for residents we need access to and
from the mainland so the opportunity with
a specifically-designed fast ferry must be
pursued.
I will be advocating for favourable
prices for residents during the negotiations
and also for the development of transport
services at Kingscote to meet the new ferry.
Q4 - My personal vision for Kanga-
roo Island is far-reaching and will place us
on the international stage as an exemplary
place to live and to visit.
We can do this without selling our souls
to over-development, which has been the
mistake of so many other regions.
Our ratepayer financial base (popula-
tion) needs to increase to the level that will
make us self-sustaining and this is not a
huge amount.
Three additional questions asked
of the mayoral candidates:
If elected, will you support the Pen-
neshaw Community Waste Water Man-
agement System moving forward?
Yes, the Penneshaw scheme must pro-
ceed we cant keep listening to a tiny
group of people, who, for ideological rea-
sons, oppose the scheme. Council has spent
enough money trying to find the balance
between environmental sustainability and
commonsense and the latter will prevail. It
will be my intention to lead Council in fi-
nalizing this matter soon after the election.
Kingscote needs to be returned to
being a vibrant island centre - what
would you do to bring this about?
It is essential we form a strong business
group to reinvigorate Kingscote and assist
Advance Kingscote in its endeavors.
This must be done independently of the
new ferry proposal and as a default posi-
tion.
We have lost too many businesses lately
and we have to reverse this trend.
During my studies in economics, I
learned that positive attitudes in negative
economies produce positive results. This is
the axiom we need to progress.
Do you support island development
for example the new golf course pro-
posal?
I support incremental development of
the island where community benefits. This
includes a new golf course.
Our task will be to control development
in accordance with how we see our vision
for the future.
We need to be mindful not to kill the
goose and spoil the very reason people
come to the island.
We can do this, we need to control
change or it will eventually control us.
Peter Clements - Lot 7, Gregors Road Seddon SA
5223
localnews
www.theislanderonline.com.au The Islander, Thursday, October 16, 2014 Page 9
K
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Council elections November 2014
Close of voting 5pm Friday
November 7 2014.
Meet the candidates ...
Mayoral candidates
The Islander invited each candidate to
provide a biography along with a photo, and
we asked four questions to shed some light
on each candidate's opinions. (Mayoral
candidates were asked the same four
questions along with three additional ones.)
1. What are your thoughts on a
commissioner for KI?
2. What one thing will you be
looking to achieve if elected to
Council?
3. Are you in favour of a new ferry
service from Glenelg to Kingscote
and why?
4. How do you see KI in five years
time?
All candidates are listed in alphabetical order
Peter Clements
Graham Walkom
Born and raised in the Adelaide Hills,
my first full time employment was with the
Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA)
as an engineering cadet. I gained qualifica-
tions and engineering experience in elec-
tricity generation and reticulation with
them.
This included the design and survey of
the electrical reticulation for the east and
western ends of KI in 1968 and 1969. Leav-
ing ETSA in 1971, I have worked in many
locations around Australia specialising in
remote areas engineering works and serv-
ices.
Locations included north-west WA,
Northern Territory, Woomera, Antarctica,
and Ayers Rock Resort. I have two children
and two grandchildren. I moved to Ameri-
can River in 2007 and retired there in 2011.
My interests include self-contained cycle
touring, and design and construction of pas-
sive solar housing having built several as
an owner-builder.
I am standing for mayor because I am
passionate about what council could do for
KI if managed better financially.
Q1 - I was not optimistic about
KIFA when it was established and held se-
cret meetings, did not address the environ-
ment in its charter, and did not develop a
plan with the community: it has had only
limited success. It is pleasing to see the
commissioner is required to first develop
plans and for that reason alone I am more
optimistic that there will be positive out-
comes for the island. But the commissioner
starts with less money than KIFA and will
have to convince already cash-strapped de-
partments to shift resources to KI Issues.
As mayor I would work with both the
commissioner and the local state member
very closely and positively at all times.
Q2 - That councillors and ratepay-
ers fully understand councils financial po-
sition and address it so that we can
maintain essential services.
On council, I have called a spade a
spade without fear or favour despite being
required to only say the nice things nicely
about council. Meanwhile, our finances
have further deteriorated to the point that
now we have to borrow for routine activi-
ties, cut essential works, and we have peri-
ods where on the advice provided to me,
council cannot pay its bills to local suppli-
ers nor provide employees with all the ma-
terials they need to do their work.
Q3 - On the information available
so far? Yes. All gain for the island without
the traffic issues we have in Penneshaw.
This ferry would be the shot needed to pro-
vide a positive flow-on effect in Kingscote.
Great for businesses.
Q4 - As mayor I will focus on get-
ting value for money from all council spend-
ing: a missing component from councils
decision-making these last four years.
But like all councillors, I must support
councils stated vision which is:
A confident, growing and cohesive com-
munity benefitting from a thriving econ-
omy based on strong tourism and primary
production sectors, preserving our unique
heritage and sustainably managing our
natural environment.
I fully support this but it is not achiev-
able if the local council is financially, seri-
ously unwell.
As a mayoral candidate, three addi-
tional questions were asked.
Will you support the Penneshaw
Waste Water System moving forward?
There have been six different schemes
presented to council in the last four years.
The latest system proposed is for only 45
per cent of the town and still the dam site
is uncertain: once this is resolved, if the SA
government funding offer is still available,
I support the project.
Kingscote needs to be a vibrant
centre - how would you bring this
about?
As mayor I would seek Councils resolve
to develop a town centre revitalisation plan
with delivery over 10 years, with an annual
supporting business plan. Development of
the plan would follow from engaging all
through an online survey for ideas and pri-
orities, and possibly including the wharf
precinct and wi-fi hotspots.
The very seasonal nature of tourism is a
significant contributing problem. There
must be significant focus to get more bal-
anced numbers throughout the year. Inde-
pendently of such a project, roads and
footpaths in greater Kingscote must be ad-
dressed by council. This is important for
residents and all businesses.
Do you support island develop-
ment? For example, the new golf
course?
The island needs reasonable develop-
ment for its economic survival. I support
eco-friendly development, and to achieve
this I believe larger resort-type develop-
ments in scattered locations are preferable.
I am opposed to high-density development
like the Gold Coast in any form in any lo-
cation on KI. The exceptional environment
of KI is KI.
From the limited information available,
this project looks reasonable, but I would
seek to ensure that islanders are fully in-
formed and consulted as it proceeds.
Graham Walkom, 26 Falie Court, American River,
SA 5221
The single thing I
will be looking to
achieve is a strong,
assertive and
switched-on elected
member team that
serves the people,
always.

As mayor I will
focus on getting value
for money from all
council spending: a
missing component
from councils decision-
making these last four
years.