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Meet your Division 5 candidate - Winston Johnston
Winston Johnston Candidate for division 5
Lifelong hinterland resident, businessman, community worker and former Caloundra City councillor Winston Johnston will be a candidate for division 5 of Sunshine Coast Council at the local government elections next March.
Born, educated and raised near Maleny, Mr Johnston knows each area of division 5 well. He established his insurance brokerage – Your Insurance Broker – as a small business in Maleny, successfully expanding to service the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Caloundra and Brisbane.
He and his wife Helen have two children. Daughter Rachel is a global human resources manager and son Winston is a software development manager in California.
Mr Johnston has simultaneously been an active community worker and a keen supporter of sporting and community groups.
He is a past president and life member of Maleny Show Society and has held numerous leadership roles in Lions, Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce, Maleny District Sport and Recreation and state school P&Cs.
He has held positions on the Caloundra Maroochy Water Supply Board, Sunshine Coast Tourism and Development Board, Sunshine Coast hospital boards, Sunshine Coast University site planning committee and general insurance industry councils.
Mr Johnston spent nine years as a division 2 councillor representing Maleny and Landsborough, becoming chairman of the tourism, town planning and development committees, responsible for the implementation of town plan reviews and local area plans for coastal and hinterland areas.
“I am sharply aware that hinterland residents want a councillor who understands and is passionate about sustainable tourism while creating an environment for business and agricultural success in our many towns and districts in division 5,” he said.
“As a councillor I will plan and debate strongly to deliver better roads, parks, footpath linkages and improved maintenance of council assets, including greater weed control.
“I will implement improved parking facilities to keep residents and visitors shopping locally instead of travelling to coastal shopping complexes.”
Residing in Maleny, Mr Johnston says he is ideally located to service division 5, a huge rural division with at least eight distinct towns and diverse communities. He said that travelling between Maleny, Nambour and Caloundra for council meetings meant that every area could be serviced personally.
“We are not second-class citizens just because we choose to live west of the Bruce Highway.
Mr Johnston plans to attend as many community meetings as possible to even better understand how he can represent residents’ interests.
