It's not an emotion usually associated with an election, but the emcee of the Meet the Candidates forum in Gunnedah tomorrow afternoon wants people to get excited.
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Gunnedah and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Stacey Cooke said the forum was a chance to focus on possibilities instead of the current tough times.
"I hope it's really informative and gets people excited about what's to come," Ms Cooke said.
"This is a good opportunity to direct appropriate questions to the candidates.
"Positivity, especially in our current climate, we have to focus on that.
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"With the drought, everything's been so down and depressing of late, but maybe the candidates - whatever they propose to do - hopefully it will instill some sort of motivation in the community that there is something to look forward to."
Five candidates for the state election have confirmed they will attend; Animal Justice Party’s Emma Hall is unwell.
The candidates for The Nationals - incumbent Kevin Anderson; Country Labor - Stephen Mears; Greens - Robin Gunning; Shooters, Fishers and Farmers - Jeff Bacon; and the independent - Mark Rodda also spoke at a similar Tamworth forum last night.
Apart from heated talks on funding for a Tamworth university campus, major topics were water infrastructure and vote preferences.
Ms Cooke said the candidates would start with a "five-minute spiel". Time limits and codes of conduct would also be in place for all.
"I am trained as a mediator, so that could come in handy," she said.
- The event will be on Wednesday at the Civic Gallery from 12.30pm until about 2pm