“I’m excited to be endorsed,” said the Liberal candidate for Macquarie, Sarah Richards.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to stand up and say, here I am, I want to listen to you and take your concerns direct to the Prime Minister or to other ministers.”
Ms Richards, 36, a councillor on Hawkesbury council since September 2016, moved to the area at the age of 10. With a father in the air force, she spent her teenage years living on the Richmond air base.
She has a communications degree and a law degree and practised law with Dooley and Associates in Parramatta after being admitted as a solicitor.
Motherhood put her career temporarily on hold, with three children within four years: Jasmine, 11, Lucy, 8 and Max, 7. She is separated from her husband.
Ms Richards said she has always been an active part of her community.
“I have had an intense interest in my community for a number of years,’ she said.
She has been with Rotary for almost a decade, is a director of Windsor RSL and secretary of Hawkesbury Torch Bearers for Legacy, a cause dear to her heart with an ex-military father.
She is a former director of Fitzgerald Aged Care in Windsor, for which she almost single-handedly rewrote its constitution.
Ms Richards is also a member of the community board of advice for Hawkesbury Hospital, which has shown her how she can give “a voice to people’s concerns” which they often raise with her.
“I can be an advocate. I can be a conduit straight to the hospital,” she said.
Her “spare” time, she said with a smile, is spent with her children, mostly at Richmond swimming pool at the moment.
She has already had a taste of the many and varied views in the Mountains about the virtues or otherwise of the western Sydney airport.
Ms Richards spoke plainly about the Coalition’s attitude – “the government’s position on the airport is it’s being built’ – and said she supported the creation of jobs which meant people didn’t have to leave the electorate to work.
“If we have an opportunity to have an airport at the end of the Blue Mountains which ... can give more jobs to local people, that means they have more time at home.”
But she was well aware of the major concerns about the as-yet unknown flight paths.
“They will be set by 2024 so what I want to do is sit down with the groups or individuals … to get a feel for what they think will be a good outcome.
“Listening and making sure that every one is being heard is a definite fundamental,” she said.
If elected, she said, she would stand down from council.
“It would be difficult to do both jobs. I don’t believe it would be right to spread yourself thin.”
She believed the community would expect her to dedicate herself to just one role.
Ms Richards said she was excited at the thought of the campaign – “meeting new people, connecting with small business, promoting what the Liberal Party does”.
Her priority for the Hawkesbury part of the electorate is the need for a third crossing for the Hawkesbury River. In the Mountains, she will focus on tourism, and particularly the quality of amenities for tourists.
Ms Richards acknowledged she is much better known in the Hawkesbury but plans on door-knocking, greeting people at railway stations, visiting businesses and holding community forums to get to know as many Mountains people as possible.
She invited anyone who wanted to contact her to call 0477 703 030 or email sarah.richards@nswliberal.org.au.
