whistle stop tour of the Shire<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was an opportunity to take my leadership to the electorate and connect with them,\u201d Ms Coker said. \u201cI found a hunger for engagement and received various forms of feedback on government actions from the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
From coffee dates to pub meetings, in schools and meetings with community groups and sporting clubs Ms Coker discussed all manner of issues and concerns with the residents.<\/p>\n
Ms Coker said it is imperative that people have the ability to connect and speak their mind.<\/p>\n
The common thread she encountered was the growth of the towns in the Shire and the need for balancing development with the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were concerns raised about planning, sewerage, residential densities, construction heights, and proximity to river systems,\u201d she said. \u201cWater resources and the health of the Moorabool River and climate change in particular was often in the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aim of the street stall in Bannockburn was to provide a forum for residents to speak with Ms Coker about personal issues such as Newstart, Centrelink, schooling or mental health issues.<\/p>\n
This often means taking further steps to follow up on their concern.<\/p>\n
This may involve speaking with other levels of government, or agencies or service providers such as the NBN.<\/p>\n
People need not just a voice but also help as some people find it difficult to know what to do, Ms Coker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be the advocate for that person and provide them feedback or advice on how they can personally pursue an issue,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is part of being a politician and a member of parliament that you have to be prepared to support people with their problems, if you are not prepared to do that, you shouldn\u2019t be in politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need support and advice, for me I find it a privilege that they would share their personal stories with me and there is an onus on me to always try to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she may not always have the right answer, Ms Coker said there is an expectation at least to provide direction or perhaps liaise for them to have their voice heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a background as a councillor, teacher and journalist, I\u2019ve seen it from different angles and I think I am reasonably prepared for the gig.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CORANGAMITE Member Libby Coker has covered thousands of kilometres across the electorate which envelops the south of Golden Plains Shire and hugs the shore line of the surf coast and the Bellarine Peninsula. Bannockburn\u2019s High Street on Saturday was the last on a whistle stop tour of the Shire. \u201cIt was an opportunity to take […]<\/p>\n
Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":24614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-24613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMP listening tour moves on - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MP listening tour moves on - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CORANGAMITE Member Libby Coker has covered thousands of kilometres across the electorate which envelops the south of Golden Plains Shire and hugs the shore line of the surf coast and the Bellarine Peninsula. Bannockburn\u2019s High Street on Saturday was the last on a whistle stop tour of the Shire. \u201cIt was an opportunity to take [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-17T03:11:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/09\/libby-coker-saturday.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carol Saffer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carol Saffer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carol Saffer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d2a01d07d928371dc8625632387dc04c\"},\"headline\":\"MP listening tour moves on\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-17T03:11:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":435,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/libby-coker-saturday.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/\",\"name\":\"MP listening tour moves on - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/libby-coker-saturday.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-17T03:11:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/mp-listening-tour-moves-on\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/libby-coker-saturday.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/libby-coker-saturday.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1600,\"caption\":\"Here to help: As an ex-journalist and teacher Libby Coker, Member for Corangamite, knows how to connect with her constituents. 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