By Lucy Waldron
The absence of mayoral candidate Melissa Hamilton from a Meet the Candidates evening in Stanthorpe last Thursday has been noted among Southern Downs residents following a very public debate between the mayoral hopeful and the Stanthorpe Chamber of Commerce.
Only two out of three candidates were present for the Q&A session at the event, which aimed to provide residents with insights into mayoral candidates’ platforms.
Incumbent Mayor Vic Pennisi attended in person, while Lindsay Goodwin participated via Zoom due to hospitalisation for a knee reconstruction.
In response to her absence, Hamilton said it was a very busy time for all candidates.
“I had a pre-existing commitment on Thursday evening, and while I had hoped it might resolve so as to allow me to be at the chamber event in the end this did not happen,” Hamilton said.
“It was a difficult decision to make but I reluctantly have to give my apologies to the organisers.”
Stanthorpe and Granite Belt Chamber of Commerce president Graham Parker took to Facebook to dispel prior claims Hamilton had made about the night being an “ambush“.
“To suggest that chamber would host an ambush is an insult to all the chamber executives past and present that have hosted these very successful events over the years for the benefit of the community,” Parker said in his post.
Before the event, Hamilton posed various questions to Parker about local media, livestream comments and the structure of the evening, which were addressed by Parker.
Come the day of the event, Hamilton took to Facebook to let the residents know she would not be attending but praised the chamber’s efforts.
“The chamber is to be applauded on the planning they put into making it a positive event that allowed members of our community to meet many of the new councillor candidates,” she said.
To round off the chamber’s Facebook post from 10 March, Parker asked for an apology to the Stanthorpe and Granite Belt Chamber of Commerce members for the “offensive comments” made against them.
