Media Release
Lucas Hope to contest Hammond as an independent
Murray Bridge — 10 November 2025:
Independent candidate, Lucas Hope, today confirmed he will contest the seat of Hammond at the next state election, outlining policy goals focused on safer roads and paid paramedics for Mannum, alongside a goal to upgrade Murray Bridge Hospital, and a nation-first policy to help safeguard children in state care.
Road Safety — Policy Goals
At Monarto, the goal is to convert the “intersection of doom” into a roundabout to reduce crashes and delays. The intersection of doom is located at the intersection of Old Princes Highway and Ferries McDonald Road. At Strathalbyn, the goal is to introduce slow-vehicle turn-out lanes on key approaches to improve safety and traffic flow.
Emergency & Health — Policy Goals
For Mannum, the goal is to secure paid paramedics to complement and support local volunteers, improving reliability of emergency care. In tandem, Hope will advocate a staged, needs-based upgrade of Murray Bridge Hospital, pursuing a realistic funding pathway aligned with local demand.
Child Protection — Policy Goals (Hopeline Phones)
Hopeline Phones (no relation to his surname) —in what will be a nation first—aims to install fixed, tamper-proof phones in every South Australian state care home, giving children a direct, safe line to raise concerns and get help. The phones’ aim to give vulnerable children access to Kids Helpline and other services which they don’t currently have access too.
A plain-English community summary of the plan is scheduled for release on 15 January 2026.
About Lucas Hope
Hope is a local truck driver, former youth residential-care worker and prison officer, and a graduate of Macquarie University (Bachelor of Security Studies) and holds a Diploma in Justice. He attended Murray Bridge South Primary School and Mannum Community College.
“Hammond deserves straight talk and steady results,” Hope said. “These are practical goals to make life safer and easier.”
ENDS
MEDIA RELEASE
RE: Murray Bridge McDonalds Ice-cream Machine
MEDIA RELEASE — 31 October 2025 · Murray Bridge
We all know the line: “Sorry, the ice-cream machine’s broken.” It seems small until it’s your kid in the back seat after a hot day of sport, sunscreen in the eyebrows, chanting “soft-serve, soft-serve,” or you’re finishing a late shift and dreaming of five quiet minutes with a cone. Reliability matters. I’m committing to partner with the private sector to get the Murray Bridge McDonald’s ice-cream machine working—and keep it that way.
This won’t be complicated. If it needs a part, we’ll help it find one. If it needs a reset, we’ll have a calm word with the mysterious blinking light. If it’s feeling dramatic, we’ll book it a spa day and call it “maintenance.” Updates will be plain: serving or not serving. No naming-and-shaming—just cones served, kids smiling, and that quiet nod when something finally works like it should.
If fate throws us a wobble, we won’t write a thesis—we’ll fix the thing, thank the heroes, and move on. Should the machine enter a philosophical phase, we’ll dim the lights, play meditation music, and gently suggest it express its feelings in vanilla. If it insists on a deeper conversation, we’ll try the sacred, time-honoured method: off, on, eye contact.
And for the record: when that green “ready” light clicks on, angels don’t sing—but in Murray Bridge, tradies do a satisfied chin-nod, grandparents tell a 50-cent milkshake story, and small children achieve moustaches of national significance. One soft-serve at a time, the town gets its happy back. On a hot afternoon, when someone asks for a cone, the answer should be as reliable as the river—yes.