By Violet Li
Berwick resident and community leader Kasuni Mendis is in full swing for her second council election.
Long passionate about the local government sector, Ms Mendis has spent almost a decade embedding herself in the community to understand what the needs are. She ran for Springfield Ward in 2016 and had the third highest in primary votes. This year, she is looking to run as a candidate for the Kowan Ward.
She is the president of the Casey Multi-Faith Network and Casey Residents and Ratepayers Association. She participated in the Casey Leadership Program in its first year. She is also an L2P mentor who supervises learner drivers and helps them gain their licences.
“Working at those other organisations in my volunteer time has really given me an insight into some of the advocacy that’s required in the City of Casey,” she said.
Essential services and access and inclusion would be her focus in the coming election.
“I want to ensure that our essential services are met, such as ensuring that our parks and roads are maintained, our bins are collected, and that our rates go to good use, and we have better value for that. I think that’s what people want to see from their council, and I think that’s what I want to deliver for our community as well,” she said.
“Broader than that, I want to make sure that the voices in our diverse community feel like they’re heard, represented, and respected.
“I would also advocate for better infrastructure to State and Federal Governments to ensure that the growth that we’re seeing now is being met with adequate infrastructure and services.
“More broadly, there’s a lot more advocacy we can do in the health and well-being space and ensure that the diverse needs of our community are met – whether that’s through the arts and culture, sports, or other engagement activities that create a sense of harmony and peace in our community.”
Working for local government in the west suburbs now, Ms Mendis believed this very experience enabled her to have a good insight into how councils worked operationally and administratively, what councils could do to effect change, and what could be done to achieve transparency and good governance.
“The last time the governance policy was reviewed, I put in a submission through the Casey Residents and Ratepayers Association around how we can have some more time and measures about improving transparency,” she said.
“One of the suggestions is having a register where they log down any meeting they have with external bodies such as developers.
“I think that would be a really useful way of ensuring that there is that transparency between councilors and the community. That is also just all out there, open and clear for people to see and understand any kind of dealings or conversations that might have occurred between councilors and developers.”
Looking back on her 2016 election, Ms Mendis said she had improved and matured a lot in the past eight years. The only thing constant was her passion and vision for the community.
“I think things that I want to achieve now are similar to what I wanted to achieve back then. I saw a need in our community that was not heard, respected and represented. And that’s why I put my hand up then, and that’s a part of why I put my hand up now as well,” she said.
“I’ve learned a lot over the years. I was really young and probably naive when I ran back in 2016, and I definitely made mistakes.
“I think one of the biggest learnings that I’ve had is about being able to support women in local government.
“I really believe in the role that women have to play in local government. And I think my values are more aligned to supporting women and understanding how hard it is for women in politics.”
Ms Mendis said people in Casey had felt like they had not been represented over the last few years and now it was time.
“Even in the years preceding the sacking of the council, it was clear that there was a lot of dysfunctions and general inefficiencies,” she said.
“Following the sacking of councilors with the appointment of administrators, residents felt like they lost their community voice in the decisions that were being made.
“I think that this restoration of democracy in Casey will be good for our municipality. Ultimately, we all want a Casey that we can be proud of.
“I love our area, but I think there’s just a lot more to be done to ensure that we have a community that’s safe and secure and that we can all be proud of and say that we’re happy to live in.”
