Candidate profiles I Australian Rural & Regional News

Ashleigh Gray, Family First Party Australia – Mallee

Cost of living: What specific policies will you implement to ease cost-of-living pressures, particularly for low- and middle-income households facing rising prices for essentials like food, fuel, and utilities?

a. Family First Party Australia recommends a temporary pause of all net zero policies to allow a full strategic review; ensuring climate goals do not undermine energy security, economic resilience, and social equity – especially during uncertainty. We believe pausing net zero and engaging affordable Australian energy will help lower living costs for families and businesses.

b. Family First Party Australia supports removing the “couple penalty” by allowing income splitting for single income families, reducing their financial burden.

c. Family First Party Australia advocates for access to affordable goods fair trading for businesses, and government action to curb corporate excess.

d. Family First Party Australia wants the Australian Dream of flourishing families and home ownership to become a reality again.

National energy security and affordability: How will you balance the transition to renewables with ensuring reliable and affordable energy supply, especially given recent concerns about grid stability and high electricity costs?

a. Family First Party Australia advocates for a pause on net zero policies until a full cost benefit analysis is completed and supports exiting the Paris climate accords to address rising energy costs.

b. Family First Party Australia advocates using Australia’s abundant gas reserves to firm electricity supply, avoid blackouts, and lower power prices.

c. Family First Party Australia supports keeping coal-fired power stations open until viable and affordable alternatives exist.

d. Family First Party Australia supports unlocking gas reserves by lifting exploration restrictions and opposes importing gas while domestic supply is sufficient.

e. Family First Party Australia believes that Australia needs to increase gas supply to drive industry and jobs, and to make energy more affordable while ensuring energy security and economic resilience.

Housing availability: What concrete steps will you take to increase housing supply and affordability, particularly for first-time buyers and renters, in the face of record-high property prices and low vacancy rates?

a. Family First Party Australia advocates for releasing more land and reduce red tape to boost housing supply and lower prices. Family First Party Australia believes building additional housing stock – not just acquisition – is essential to address shortages, especially in social housing.

b. To prevent further strain, Family First Party Australia advocates for a reduction in immigration numbers to a levels that match housing availability infrastructure. Immigration must be manages so that housing supply keeps pace with demand. Our approach focuses on practical solutions, supporting new construction, and ensuring population growth does not outstrip out ability to provide affordable homes to Australians.

Human rights violations of the Government’s Covid-19 response: How will you ensure accountability for any overreach in Covid-19 policies, such as extended lockdowns or vaccine mandates, and protect against future erosions of personal freedoms?

a. Family First Party Australia calls for a Royal Commission into state and federal governments’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the actions that were taken by the governments during this time.

b. Family First Party Australia wants to ensure the primacy of Parliament’s oversight over public health. Family First Party Australia proposes legal and procedural reforms to guarantee that emergency health measures, restrictions, and mandates are subject to timely parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and approval.

Protection of Australian farmers from water buyback: What measures will you propose to safeguard irrigation districts, farmers’ water rights and livelihoods from the increased water buyback demands under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan?

a. Family First Party Australia supports a review of the Water Buyback scheme and greater transparency in water allocations to environmental entitlements.

b. Family First Party Australia backs Voluntary buyback only, ensuring fair compensation for farmers and irrigators.

c. Family First Party Australia demands transparency in the Mallee Irrigation Development Guidelines with the review finalised by end of 2025.

d. Family First Party Australia calls for ongoing reviews and modernisation of the irrigation channels to protect irrigators.

e. Family First Party Australia opposes overseas purchasing of Australian water to keep the cost of water down for Australian famers.

f. Family First Party Australia will require politicians to declare interests in water and support effective First Nations water access, with regular reviews and reinvestment unspent allocations.

g. Family First Party Australia welcomes a review desalination plants use.

Boosting Australian manufacturing and value-adding our resources: Do you see a need and how would you support the growth of local manufacturing and downstream processing of Australia’s raw materials to create jobs and reduce reliance on exporting unprocessed resources?

a. Family First Party aims to empower small and family-run businesses by reducing excessive regulatory burdens—both traditional (“red tape”) and environmental compliance (“green tape”)—that disproportionately affect smaller enterprises. The proposal seeks to streamline bureaucracy, accelerate growth, and preserve responsible environmental stewardship without overregulation. Family First Party believes that small and family-owned businesses are the backbone of the national economy, accounting for a significant share of employment, innovation, and community development. However, these businesses often lack the resources to navigate complex regulatory frameworks that are typically designed with larger corporations in mind.

b. Family First Party Australia encourages enterprise by reducing government regulation.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

I am fighting for affordable food and energy, healthcare you deserve, fixing local roads and fighting for farming communities – aided by the Coalition’s policies for immediate cost-of-living relief, a $20 billion Regional Australia Future Fund – providing $1 billion every year to regional communities to fund roads, mobile black spots and other projects – plus a $1 billion boost for Local Roads and Community Infrastructure funding. As Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health, I have announced $8.7 million to fund end-to-end medical training in Sunraysia so local students go from high school to practice as a GP in regional communities.

Peter Sinclair, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party – Farrer

We will support most reasonable measures that increase competition in the retail sector, that will give small business a better chance to compete. Tax, mining royalties and employment legislation all seem to favour the big end of town, by making a more level playing field, small business will be better able to compete in all areas of retail and that should increase competition and put downward pressure on inflation. Also if we abolish carbon pricing and taxes that will hugely lighten the load on households big and small.

Australia had a very good energy policy before renewables came along. To play our part in the global effort all it needed was little tinkering, not an outright takeover.

Instead of catastrophic amounts of money being spent on massive solar and wind arrays, we could have spent much less and put panels and batteries on every building saving the cost of new powerlines. We need the right mix of coal, and renewables that doesn’t make energy more expensive. Better use of the off peak electricity, improved hydro and a good look at nuclear would also help.

Welcome to the Stoneage Express. It most certainly looks like the big culprit is immigration, what’s the use of building 100,000 homes if we immigrate 1,000 000. We have no hope of housing all these people, Tradies, Water, Health, schools, roads, jobs you name it are all hopelessly overwhelmed and its getting worse. Any married couple who doesn’t get tertiary schooling and employment will be unable to own their home and eventually they wont even be able to pay the rent. Housing is Australia’s biggest problem at the moment And can only be arrested with an immediate return to manageable numbers of immigrants a year.

We need to implement a human rights bill, basic human rights not only should be enshrined in law but encouraged. We all work for the system but people with the freedom of speech, expression, commerce, privacy, movement etc etc are much more willing to prosper thus making the entire system better for all. Only a Royal Commision can get to the bottom of what really happened, we need to support all calls for such a thing to happen.

No government should be able to force any one to buy or sell anything if they do not wish to do so, unless its a matter of national security. A human Bill of rights as mentioned earlier, would give farmers better protection and haggling power from any authority that tries to fool them. Originally when the Snowy Mountains Scheme was implemented, certain amounts of water were allocated to certain areas, To change this allocation is only going to rob Peter to pay Paul, it will not benefit the nation in any way, so if water rights are changed then the decrease in value of the farm should also be negotiable, but my advice would be don’t sell because the existing land is more farmable.

As mentioned in questions 1,2 and 3 manufacturing will get a boost through cheaper supplies, energy and because of cheaper housing maybe even wages. And with better human rights, comes better legal protection and a happier workforce. Government must do something to encourage our intellects to start up in Australia. Interest free loans is one example, a big reduction in green and red tape will also be a boost so will leaving them to mind their business instead of telling them.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

The top three concerns I have, The new greenfield site, Norske and DSI. I feel the greenfield site will be a white elephant, we will get a much better service if the money is spent over the existing facilities, better emergencies better parking and more efficient and smaller departments. Norske and DSI are the two biggest private assets in Farrer, and they are left idle, WHY, both of those could turned into something that could boost employment in the whole electorate, and yet there they sit doing nothing. We need to get them operational again. Even if it takes a totally new product line.

Adam Veitch, Trumpet of Patriots – Mallee

Unfortunately there are no quick fixes to cost of living pressures, unpopular opinion probably but reality is successive governments have saddled us with incredible generational debt, off the back of decades of a resource and mineral depletion with little to show for it following policies in line with the Lima Agreement. This needs to be rectified so we can get on the path to prosperity again funded buy our ‘Commonwealth” which is our sovereign common wealth, by re negotiating trade, tax and royalties agreements also a ‘DOGE” type audit to Reighn back the waste including government and bureaucratic pensions that seriously bothers me, public service is one of the highest honors bestowed, not a chance to enrich yourself, and taxpayers certainly should not be burdened with continually paying them after political life.

We could offer you scraps off the buffet table like they are $7.50 per week next year or $14.00 off a tank of fuel reducing the excise which is an extra tax on fuel.

But that will have little to no effect and add to the spiraling debt bubble.

Unfortunately these sugar hits for your vote are an insult to your intelligence and they are not the answer.

It’s going to be a grind back to where we need to be as a country and it’s going to take some heavy lifting by all.

Energy security is a major factor of the cost of living pressure and a major reason our industrial production and manufacturing is not feasible or close to competitive in domestic international markets.

Again Governments have usurped our resources and export to other countries before our needs are taken care of not only do we not get tax or royalties we dont even get supply of our own resources and at a decent price.

Absolutely comical ridiculous position to be in but because government are paid millions to represent donors, foreign interest and multi nationals we are left behind and suffer this must end and Clive has the experience and understanding of this sector with a wealth of knowledge dealing with multinationals and billions of dollars of trade.

The problem is the immigration numbers where unrealistic, we need the immigration but it needs to be sustainable growth for both housing and infrastructure.

We need to get on top of this before continually adding fuel to the fire so to speak, the reality is with over 1 million new arrivals ytd the supply and demand of housing prior to this wasn’t close to where it needed to be but adding so many more people to the pool of people that needed a accommodation which totally exacerbated the problem, The bullet train policy would allow people to move to regional areas while still being able to work in regional areas as well as the cities, with more options regionally and more affordable land growing regional communities and economies.

Government have a habit of creating problems then using these problems at election time to convince the people that only they have the answers to fix it. Treating the population with disdain.

Human rights violations of the Government’s Covid-19 Response: How will you ensure accountability for any overreach in Covid-19 policies, such as extended lockdowns or vaccine mandates, and protect against future erosions of personal freedoms?

We have recently seen the headlines around the unlawful mandates and the captain calls throughout that period.

Clive has led the way with ivermectin that was confiscated and the lawsuit in Qld with the police and ambos that he has been working on making ground.

He has been in staunch opposition to the mandates.

This needs to be investigated properly and fully addressed.

This is a murky area of corruption that doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

Like our mineral and resource debacle this needs to be addressed extremely quickly the sale and trading of such a precious limited resource for profit from people who have no interest in the area and are only interested in profiteering is absurd.

The water right are owned and allocation need to be supplied fully not partially or not at all. Irrigators and producers need that resource to produce good for markets and community prosperity. Government selling out the people again at the detriment of the country and the people they are paid to represent.

This has been a focus of PUP UAP and now ToP Clive understands the importance of extraction and processing of our minerals here and produce goods for domestic and foreign markets, the Lima declaration has us sending everything offshore for next to nothing with no royalties or tax to get processed then buying it back at inflated prices at the detriment of our industries and employment sector.

Again government putting Australia and its people last and looking after other countries and their people, destroying our commonWEALTH and prosperity.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

I have 1 major Concern for the Mallee and the residents.

That is quality of life for them their families and future generations.

If we don’t get this ship back on course we will loose everything, over 1 trillion in debt and an interest payment more than we spend on Medicare is of great concern and if your not angry where we are now your not paying attention we are bleeding money its got to end now.

Knowing shady election reform being shoved through this could be the last chance for change and the uni party are shifting the goalposts and no one is going to be able to even have a kick.

Anne Webster, National Party of Australia – Mallee

A Coalition government will deliver immediate cost-of-living relief, slashing half the fuel excise to give you 25 cents per litre relief (about $14 per tank) when you fill up the family car, for 12 months. The Coalition will then provide a $1,200 Cost of Living Tax Offset for 10 million taxpayers, received when you lodge your tax return. The Coalition will also make it cheaper to see your doctor, investing over $9 billion in Medicare, and making sure you pay no more than $25 for PBS-listed medicines. Only a Coalition government can rein in wasteful government spending and reduce cost-of-living.

The Coalition will reserve Australian gas for Australian energy customers, saving approximately 7 per cent on your gas bill and 3 per cent off your energy bill – and guarantee the lights stay on during a transition from coal, through gas, to our long-term plan to install zero-emissions, 24/7 nuclear energy – as most major economies are doing. We will install nuclear power at existing coal-fired power station sites. Labor’s reckless, renewables-only agenda will cost $263 billion more than ours, railroading regional communities by imposing 28,000 kilometres of transmission lines across Australia and a further 1,000 wind turbines in Mallee alone.

The Coalition will allow first home buyers and those re-entering the market after 10 years to use up to $50,000 of their superannuation for a smaller 5 per cent deposit on the purchase price for a newly constructed home. The Nationals will also fund essential infrastructure such as water and power in housing developments for around 150,000 regional Australian homes. We will stop reckless government spending and fight inflation, taking pressure off interest rates and rents. The Coalition will reduce migration to levels our housing supply can handle, and ban foreign investors & temporary residents for two years from purchasing existing homes.

Lockdowns and vaccine mandates were never federal government policy but were implemented by state governments. I supported many constituents through the appalling cross-border treatment they received in Mallee’s border areas. I called out the inadequacy of the Albanese government’s COVID inquiry and described it as a ‘koala court’, cuddling up and protecting largely Labor state premiers like Daniel Andrews from accountability for their actions. The Albanese government has dropped the ball on freedoms like freedom of belief, with Mr Albanese showing weak leadership during worst anti-semitism seen in Australia’s history. I want hard-won Australian freedoms upheld.

I have consistently called out Labor’s reckless buyback of water in the Murray-Darling Basin, which occurred at a time the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder was not using what it owns already. Labor’s 450 gigalitre extra water recovery is a political target to hold or win seats in Adelaide. Mallee’s primary industry – farming – is under threat from a Labor government mothballing farms and converting Mallee into an industrial wasteland. The Nationals will restore the vital and protective socio-economic test we had in place before Labor and the Greens ripped up Basin bipartisanship, ensuring river communities suffer no hardship from buybacks.

In this volatile global environment, the Coalition offers strong leadership needed in Canberra to preserve our national security, energy security and Australian manufacturing sector. Energy is the economy, and Labor’s reckless pursuit of renewables, mothballing baseload power resulting in power bills going up over $1000 – not down $275 like Mr Albanese promised last election – shows Australian-made is not Labor’s number one priority. A Coalition government will reserve Australian gas, reducing industrial gas bills by 15 per cent, and repeal the unworkable new definitions of ‘casual work’ and the ‘right to disconnect’, cutting red tape for small to medium manufacturers and businesses.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

Vaughan Williams, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation – Mallee

To ease cost-of-living pressures, I’ll back One Nation’s plan to cut government waste, saving $90 billion, including abolishing the Department of Climate Change. This funds tax relief for low- and middle-income households, reducing financial strain on food, fuel, and utilities. We’ll lower energy costs by opposing costly renewable mandates and supporting affordable coal, gas, and nuclear options. I’ll push for fairer tax policies and reduced red tape for small businesses in Mallee, boosting local economies. These measures ensure families keep more of their income to afford essentials without burdensome government overreach.

I’ll support One Nation’s policy for affordable, reliable energy by prioritizing coal, gas, and nuclear over costly renewables that strain Mallee’s grid. We’ll oppose mandates driving up electricity costs and ensure stable supply for rural communities. I’ll advocate for regional energy infrastructure upgrades to prevent blackouts. By cutting green tape, we’ll lower household bills while maintaining jobs in traditional energy sectors. Balancing renewables means practical integration without sacrificing reliability or affordability, ensuring Mallee farmers and families aren’t crippled by high costs. Common-sense energy policies will keep our region powered and prosperous.

To boost housing affordability, I’ll support One Nation’s push to reduce immigration to sustainable levels, easing demand on Mallee’s tight housing market. We’ll cut red tape to fast-track regional development, increasing supply for first-time buyers and renters. I’ll advocate for tax incentives for developers building affordable homes in rural areas. By prioritizing local infrastructure investment, we’ll create jobs and housing opportunities. One Nation’s focus on economic stability will keep interest rates manageable, helping young families enter the market. These steps ensure Mallee residents aren’t priced out of their communities.

I’ll demand accountability for Covid-19 policy overreach by supporting One Nation’s call for a royal commission into lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Mallee families deserve answers on eroded freedoms. We’ll legislate to protect personal choice, banning forced medical interventions and ensuring transparent decision-making. I’ll push for stronger privacy laws to safeguard against surveillance overreach. One Nation’s commitment to free speech and individual rights will prevent future erosions. My role as Mallee’s voice will ensure Canberra respects our liberties, holding bureaucrats accountable for actions that harmed livelihoods and mental health.

I’ll fiercely protect Mallee’s irrigation districts. One Nation will revise Murray-Darling Basin Plan water buybacks, prioritizing farmers’ water rights over environmental quotas. I’ll advocate for fair water distribution policies, ensuring sustainable allocations for agriculture. We’ll invest in water-efficient infrastructure to support livelihoods without compromising production. I’ll push to halt foreign land ownership, preserving local control of resources. These measures safeguard Mallee’s farming backbone, ensuring our region’s food security and economic vitality aren’t sacrificed to bureaucratic demands.

I see a critical need to grow Mallee’s manufacturing. One Nation will cut red tape and offer tax breaks to encourage local processing of agricultural and mineral resources. I’ll advocate for regional industrial hubs, creating jobs and reducing reliance on raw exports. By prioritizing affordable energy, we’ll make manufacturing competitive. Supporting small businesses with grants for value-adding enterprises will diversify Mallee’s economy. These policies ensure our resources benefit Australians first, fostering self-reliance and prosperity in rural communities while securing long-term employment.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

My top three concerns for Mallee are:

Protecting farmers’ water rights against Murray-Darling buybacks, ensuring agriculture thrives.
Reducing cost-of-living pressures through lower energy costs and tax relief, supporting families and small businesses.
Improving infrastructure, like roads, rail, and internet, to connect Mallee’s produce to markets and boost economic growth. I’ll fight for practical policies that put Mallee first, addressing rural challenges with One Nation’s straightforward approach to secure our region’s future.

Michelle Milthorpe, Independent – Farrer

With the continued monopoly/duopolies of supermarkets, banks, insurance companies, energy companies, regional flights and transport etc etc I will advocate for greater transparency in pricing of these essential items. These companies need to be held accountable for the essential services they provide and that our regional communities rely on.

Regarding electricity, given that successive governments have made moves towards renewables, I want to see funding for research into improving storage of energy through batteries, with subsidies for small business owners, renters and homeowners.

Regional communities bear the greatest burden of environmental management, from maintaining biodiversity and soil health to hosting large-scale renewable energy projects that benefit the entire nation.

I will advocate for: Real consultation, giving regional Australians a voice in climate and energy decisions; Supporting workers and industries transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy; Grid stability – a clear plan to ensure reliable energy during transition; Ensuring communities hosting renewable energy projects receive direct benefits; Battery and renewables to be manufactured locally; No new fossil fuel projects – focus on sustainable alternatives; Practical solutions and policies that work for regional communities.

Housing shortages in regional areas have a direct impact on workforce shortages, economic growth, and community wellbeing. When there is nowhere suitable to live, essential workers leave or refuse regional jobs.

Regional communities need support from all levels of Government for developments that align with their long term needs, including investment in critical infrastructure like water, sewerage, and roads to support sustainable growth. I will be advocating for: increasing the housing supply for key workers and vulnerable Australians, developing independent living facilities to keep communities together and providing incentives for private developers to invest in regional housing.

Much was learned for all levels of government during the Covid-19 pandemic. I support the development of clear evidence-informed communication for community awareness about public health risks and measures, and will advocate for a response that is appropriate for the regional communities of Farrer.

Effective and fair water management is essential to ensuring the sustainability of our agriculture, regional economies, and natural environment.

I will advocate for:

Protecting productive water and ending buybacks, in favour of practical solutions like irrigation upgrades, infrastructure investment, with no foreign ownership of Australian water; Fair and transparent water management with consistent, transparent metering of all water flows; Genuine consultation with affected communities to ensure fairness in water policy and regulation; Support feasibility studies and investigation of long-term storage solutions like Lake Coolah and Managed Aquifer Recharge; Science-led, measurable environmental policies and a comprehensive fish management strategy.

Regional Australia presents many opportunities to businesses and manufacturing, however our policy settings do need to address the issues of higher energy costs, workforce attraction and retention, difficulties with Visas, transport costs and unreliable telecommunications. I will advocate for addressing these barriers and work with all levels of government to attract business to our regions.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

I have travelled over 40000 kms since September and what I’m hearing is that people in regional communities are missing out. We desperately need better access to healthcare – whether that’s a new hospital in Albury, more staff for the hospital in Griffith, or GPs and health services in other regional communities. We need improved access to childcare to support families trying to survive a cost of living crisis. The devastating effects of water buybacks on the farmers that produce our food and fibre is also evident. The fact is, there is no one looking out for the people of Farrer.

Emma Hicks, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation – Farrer

A Fair Go for Farrer: Real Solutions for Water, Cost of Living, and Healthcare

As your One Nation candidate for Farrer, I’m fighting for practical solutions to the real issues affecting our region—water security, cost of living, and access to doctors.

Water is Farrer’s lifeblood, and we must protect it. One Nation will reverse damaging changes to the Water Act and Basin Plan, restore the 1500 GL/year cap on buybacks, and enforce the original socio-economic test for the 450 GL recovery. We’ll invest in irrigation upgrades, water-efficient farming, and prevent foreign ownership of water assets. Transparent water trading and a public registry will bring integrity back to the Basin.

To boost infrastructure and exports, we’ll re-open and upgrade the Shepparton–Tocumwal rail line, extending it to connect with the re-opened Hay line. This will link Victoria’s food bowl to national freight routes and cut transport costs for local producers.

To ease living pressures, we’ll slash electricity bills by 20 per cent and halve the fuel excise to 26 cents per litre for three years, with a review after 12 months.

We’ll support families and retirees by raising the tax-free threshold to $35,000 for self-funded retirees, enabling pensioners to earn more, introducing joint tax returns for couples with dependent children, and removing venue excise on beer and spirits.

In healthcare, we’ll increase the Medicare rebate to support GPs and promote bulk billing. We’ll introduce three-year contracts for newly qualified medical professionals, and in return, pay off their HECS-HELP debts in full—placing more doctors where they’re needed most. We’ll also crack down on Medicare fraud, saving up to $3 billion annually.

We’ll refuse entry to migrants from countries that promote extremist ideologies, ensuring our values and safety remain protected.

On energy, we’ll levy royalties at the point of natural gas production, establish a domestic gas reserve, and raise up to $13 billion annually for Australians—not foreign profits.

We oppose Covid-19 vaccine mandates and will continue pushing for a Royal Commission into the government’s pandemic response.

Farrer needs strong, local leadership—committed to Water, Cost of Living, and Doctors.

Greg Olsen, Australian Labor Party Mallee

As part of a re-elected Albanese Labor government Greg will work to create more bulk billed GP visits, build more Urgent Care Clinics, reduce and cap the cost of medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, reduce student debt by 20 per cent, deliver more Free TAFE places and make Free TAFE permanent, deliver cheaper child care, guarantee 3 days of childcare for children who need it, deliver real wage increases, legislate to protect penalty rates and introduce a $1,000 instant tax deduction.

Greg will work to ensure that we have cheap, clean reliable renewable energy to get our grid to 82 per cent renewables by 2030, including unlocking $22.7 billion of additional investment under the Future Made in Australia plan – including for renewable and low emissions technologies such as green hydrogen and critical minerals, innovation and manufacturing to make Australia a renewable energy superpower

There will be an additional $150 in energy bill relief for every household and around one million small businesses and a $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program to reduce typical installation costs by 30 per cent program.

In a re-elected Albanese Labor Government Greg will support investing $10 billion to build up to 100,000 homes for sale only to first home buyers, give all first home buyers access to 5 per cent deposits, and encourage the use of Labor’s Help to Buy scheme.

To support housing construction Labor will train more tradies, and target $54 million for investment in advanced manufacturing of prefabricated homes and modular home construction (which can be built 50 per cent faster than traditional homes).

Human Rights Violations of the Government’s Covid-19 Response: How will you ensure accountability for any overreach in Covid-19 policies, such as extended lockdowns or vaccine mandates, and protect against future erosions of personal freedoms?

Lockdowns were the responsibility of the states and territories. The Albanese Government is taking action to ensure we’re better prepared for the next pandemic or health event. Consistent with the recommendations of the Covid-19 Inquiry, we will establish a transparent, trusted and independent Centre for Disease Control which will be a single source of advice on issues like vaccinations, lockdowns and health advice.

It will ensure Australia has a national organisation that brings together critical information and experts to deliver coherent, timely, trusted health advice to improve health outcomes for the whole country.

All buybacks are voluntary. Greg understands farmers are committed to having a healthy river. We’re delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full while supporting communities through the $300 million Sustainable Communities Program to support regions affected by voluntary water purchases.

Labor’s $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia plan is all about building a strong future for Australian manufacturing – ensuring we do more value-adding to Australia’s resources right here and securing good jobs and major investment in our regional industrial centres. This includes billions of dollars of support for Australian made metals, critical minerals processing and domestic manufacturing of renewable energy technologies like solar panels, batteries and wind turbines. Greg and Labor are also delivering the Buy Australia campaign providing $20 million to encourage consumers to buy Australian-made products.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

Ensuring that government services such as disability services, health and mental health care are available when and where they are needed across the Mallee electorate.

Ensuring that all Mallee families have access to childcare, kinder and schools and training facilities for young people and workers developing new skills are available.

Ensuring there is continued investment in road and rail infrastructure to move people and products efficiently to where they need to be.

We’re making Australia’s cities, suburbs and regions even better places to live.

Across the country, we’re building roads and rail to connect communities and get you home sooner and safer.

And we’re building essential infrastructure for new homes, with an investment to build the water, power and roads communities need.

Sussan Ley, Liberal Party of Australia, Farrer

This election is very much about who has a better plan to manage the economy in very difficult and uncertain times.

If elected, we will deliver cost of living relief through a temporary and targeted $1200 tax offset, cut the fuel tax by 25 cents a litre and rein in the Albanese Government’s wasteful spending so we can put downward pressure on inflation.

We desperately need to end the blinkered Labor/Greens ideology of all-renewables. The Coalition’s key commitment is to store Australian gas for domestic use with an East Coast Gas reservation. We will deliver a balanced energy mix, including net zero nuclear technology, which will reduce power bills for households and lower operating costs for small businesses.

The Liberals will invest $5 billion in water, power and sewerage infrastructure to unlock more homes. We’ll also implement a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents buying existing homes. Plus, we will allow first home buyers the choice of using up to $50,000 of their super towards a deposit, and change the rules so you can claim a tax deduction on mortgage interest for new builds.

It hasn’t come up as an issue for this election. In chatting to people across all corners of the electorate over the last three years, the message I hear is that most are very keen to have this period of our lives well and truly behind us.

A new Dutton Government will restore funding for practical measures to improve water security and reliability for our communities as well as the environment. This balanced approach will ensure policies and projects will focus on outcomes rather than blind ideology.

The most important thing we will do for our local manufacturers is lower the cost of doing business. The cost of energy in particular, with independent modelling confirmed our National Gas Plan will reduce the price of industrial gas by 15 per cent.

This means lower manufacturing costs and savings at the checkout.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

Ending water buybacks, and bringing balance back to the Basin Plan

Attracting more local GPs and investment in our vital rural health services

Restoring targeted mobile phone blackspot funding which has been starved of funding by Labor

Nicole Rowan, The Australian Greens – Mallee

The Greens are pushing to make big corporations and billionaires pay more tax, raising over $514bn to fund the things we all need, including:

bringing dental for everyone into Medicare
making supermarket price gouging illegal
bringing back free GPs and opening free public health clinics
capping unlimited rent increases
wiping all student HECS debt and bringing back free TAFE and Uni
universal free childcare and early childhood education
ensuring access to world class, truly free public schools
subsidising solar and batteries for homes and businesses
lifting the pension and lowering the retirement age

Every policy in the Australian Greens plan is fully costed by the Independent Parliamentary Budget Office.

Australia deserves a clean, sustainable future where people, not polluters, come first. The Greens are driving policies that reduce emissions, transition workers and communities to new industries, and build resilient infrastructure to prepare for a rapidly changing climate.

The Greens have a clear and costed 2035 – Powering Past Coal and Gas plan that will

Build clean energy storage capacity by helping houses and small businesses with the costs of battery installation
Help households and small businesses electrify with grants and loans to replace gas appliances, cutting pollution and energy bills
Establish a national Office of Electrification to guide the energy transition

The Greens will stop a whole generation from being locked out of homeownership by making billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share to fix the broken system.

As part of the Greens Housing policy, we will:

Limit increases to 2 per cent every two years
Regulate the banks to deliver fairer, lower mortgages
Phase out tax handouts going to property investors with more than one investment property – including negative gearing & the capital gains tax discount
Create a government-owned developer to build good quality homes sold and rented at affordable prices
Establish a National Renters Protection Authority to enforce renters’ rights

Greens principles include a belief that human rights are fundamental, universal, indivisible and interdependent, and must be respected, protected and promoted. Cultural, religious, gender and other differences often give rise to specific needs and circumstances that must be taken into account in order to ensure equal rights for all.

Democracy should go beyond casting a vote; it should include genuine public participation in decisions that shape our lives and future, delivering better policy and outcomes and stronger, more cohesive communities.

The Greens will establish a Public Interest Democracy Fund, administered by the Department of Parliamentary Services, which will support trials of innovative programs and digital platforms to put people back at the heart of parliament.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been a multi-billion dollar environmental disaster for our nation and $13 billion of taxpayers’ money was meant to go into saving the river.

Instead, the Murray-Darling is in crisis while big corporate irrigators are lining their pockets and small farmers are struggling.

The Greens are the only party that has opposed the Murray Darling Basin Plan from the outset, when it was clear that it put profit and special interests ahead of science and the environment.

The Greens instead have a plan that would:

Establish a national royal commission
Overhaul the Murray Darling Basin Plan, putting the environment at the centre
Ensure that any future modelling is done in the context of climate change
Ban corporate irrigator donations to political parties
Ensure that any new plan delivers water buybacks to ensure proper environmental flows

The Australian Greens believe that Governments must play a central role in promoting, coordinating, and developing, a diverse range of industrial activities, and in ensuring they are sustainable, decentralised and resilient.

In order to build successful industries, there is a need for:

High quality transport and communications infrastructure;
Affordable and accessible education and training;
Low-cost clean energy, and;
Significant public investment in science and research.

As part of the 2025 Federal Election plan, the Australian Greens have a formally costed policy to fund new military programs for locally made “defensive” weapons by reallocating $4 billion from savings within the Defence budget towards domestic production capabilities of uncrewed marine and aerial vehicles as well as missiles, strictly for self-defence.

Your electorate: What are your top three concerns for your electorate?

Federal funding to return the train to Mildura and all communities along the track
Increased funding and access to mental health and increased health provision, including in small communities
Better funding for public education to ensure all schools have the right student-teacher ratio and sufficient support staff

No response received

Chris Lahy, Australian Citizens Party – Mallee;
Richard August Hendrie, The Greens – Farrer;
Jeff Barry, Libertarian Party – Mallee.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 24 April 2025.

Agriculture, Business, Energy, Farming, Federal politics, Health, Health, Interview, Manufacturing, News, NSW, Profile, Property, Vic, Water

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