Small business the key to making Armadale thrive: Liberal candidate

With her marketing background, she has helped husband Wayne and other local artists promote themselves in the region.

“My husband has a local decorative wrought-iron business and so I got involved in the artistic community.

“Armadale has many wonderful professional artists, but nobody knows about them here,” she said.

Mrs Jeffery helped the City of Armadale set up Spring into Armadale and the Hills Art Trail and believes Armadale has great potential as a tourism hub.

“Armadale has an unemployment problem which governments could help solve by supporting local small businesses,” she said.

“Sixty per cent of sole traders are self employed.

“Think of the opportunity for tackling unemployment and under-employment if every one of those businesses employed 10 people.”

She supports measures including reducing stamp duty and welcomed the Government’s move to raise the payroll tax threshold to $900,000.

Although her father was an active member of the Liberal Party, Mrs Jeffery said she had had an on-and-off-again relationship with it.

“I went through a period where I didn’t like the direction it was going in,” she said.

“When Tony Abbott got in and I saw only one woman had been elected to Cabinet, I thought ‘well now is the time to stand up and why not?’”

Her family, including her two young daughters, were shocked when she announced her intention to run.

Mrs Jeffery has supported Liberal policies, including the Armadale justice complex and mandatory prison time for methamphetamine dealers, but also a 24/7 police station.

She said fixing Denny Avenue was a priority.

Mrs Jeffery acknowledged she had a tough battle ahead against Labor incumbent Dr Tony Buti.

“There’s a big margin and it’s against a third-term candidate, I understand that, but even if I can narrow the margin I think it will make both sides pay more attention to what’s happening down here,” she said.