We are Hughes announces Bonnet Bay businesswoman Linda Seymour as its candidate to take on Craig Kelly

Ms Seymour is a long term local, born and bred in Lilli Pilli. Together with her husband Ross, they set up a home in Bonnet Bay, where they raised their two daughters, Ayla and Jessi.

She ran her own consulting business for over 20 years and has enjoyed a successful career as an award-winning architectural design and communication specialist working on Olympic venues and master planning in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and Rio.

The independent candidate said she never planned to enter politics but realised she needed to "do something about the adversarial politicians getting elected to parliament."

"For years, our current member has mocked science, denied climate change, dismissed catastrophic bushfires as arson and has promoted unproven COVID-19 treatment. This is not someone who represents my views or the views of many in Hughes," she said.

"In 'We Are Hughes', I found a group of like-minded thinkers. We came from different backgrounds and with different voting histories, but we were united in our fight to find a representative who cared about the people of Hughes and our shared future.

"I want to represent every person in Hughes, and I want them to know that no matter who they are, no matter their circumstances, that they can have a local MP that will represent their interests and work to improve their lives with respect and dignity."

Ms Seymour said she has noticed people from all sides of the political divide are concerned about what Australia is doing to address our changing climate and the integrity of our representatives.

"Overwhelmingly, people want action on climate change and political integrity," she said.

"The climate should never have been politicised and adversarial politics has been a handbrake on getting anything meaningful done on climate change.

"A strong independent working with the community bringing people from across the political spectrum to provide good positive, constructive policy will get action on climate change.

"An independent integrity commission is also vitally important, and the lack of a federal ICAC with real teeth is a symptom of a more significant problem which is adversarial politics. We need to bring dignity back into politics and then we will get action on an ICAC.

"The win at all costs mentality of politicians in Canberra is why we have these probity problems and we need to rise above factionalised politics."

'We Are Hughes' was formed in October 2020 and canvassed the views of more than 400 constituents to tap into the issues that were most important to Hughes voters.

Volunteers interviewed people at events and market stalls and borrowed from the Voices for Indi model of 'Kitchen Table Conversations.

We Are Hughes supporter Leigh Furner said being part of the selection panel that selected Ms Seymour as its candidate was an honour and a privilege.

"Linda matches our shared values of 'Integrity, Informed and Inclusive' and we knew we were making the right decision on behalf of our 'We are Hughes' community," she said.

"We are thrilled to endorse Linda; we know she will be a wonderful representative for the Hughes community and our best chance to win our seat".

The 'We Are Hughes' panel selected Ms Seymour after interviewing five Hughes residents for the role.

Ms Furner said 'We Are Hughes' is looking forward to providing opportunities in the coming months for community members to meet and share their ideas with Linda Seymour.