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Candidate determined to make a difference

SOPHIE HAWKINSSound Telegraph

Jordon Steele-John might only be 18 but he has not let his age, nor his confinement to a wheelchair, stop him in his quest to make a difference in Warnbro.

Mr Steele-John has been preselected as the Greens candidate for the State seat of Warnbro and is the second youngest parliamentary candidate in the State’s history.

Although Mr Steele-John lives with cerebral palsy he has not let his condition become a barrier and is committed to being a voice in the community.

‘‘My main focus is to shed some light on access issues in the Warnbro community for disabled people as well as older people because I’ve got my own personal experience of access not being that good,’’ he said.

‘‘Alongside access issues is youth unemployment in the south metropolitan area, which is at 24 per cent and the State average is 4 per cent.

‘‘So it’s a real problem and we’ve got to find a way to spread the benefits of our mining boom to this region.

‘‘The last time we had a mining boom in WA there were measures taken to make sure the steel industry (benefited) at the same time. This time those measures haven’t been taken and that’s badly affected the Kwinana and Warnbro areas through the unemployment that it creates.’’

South Metropolitan Region MLC Lynn MacLaren said Mr Steele-John had the passion to make a difference.

‘‘He’s been very articulate and active in developing policy and speaking up from the youth point of view, so it adds to the depth of our party to have young, enthusiastic, articulate men who are prepared to run for the Greens.’’

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