LAKE Boga landscape gardener Chris Lahy will again “fly the flag” for the Australian Citizens Party at the upcoming federal election.
The father-of-five said ever since he “joined the throng of politicking”, he had put himself forward as a candidate for the Mallee electorate.
Mr Lahy said he wanted to give voters an alternative choice at polling booths.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is yet to call the election, but it must be held on or before Saturday, May 17.
“I’ve been flying the flag pretty much every federal election,” Mr Lahy told The Guardian.
“The thing about being involved in politics … the electoral cycle in Australia … it’s based on exactly how much money the major parties throw at people or at a problem and promise to fix it.
“But in my experience of getting around, an election is really quite a distraction from the real nuts and bolts of what people want to change.
“And what I hear is the same thing – people are really unhappy with what’s happening in our electorate and even nationwide.
“It takes a long time to get people to support and what I find really disconcerting is you might talk to a group of people and they may agree with everything you’re saying, or some of what you’re saying, and they go into the election booth, and then all of a sudden, something else happens in their mind and they’ll just vote for one of the major parties.
“If this continues to happen, and for so long as that happens, I’ll be there to give people an alternative.
“I know it’s a bit of an age old adage, but it takes a drop to fill and ocean.
“So, if I get my my supporter ship to slowly increase vote-by-vote, I’m happy with that.”
Mr Lahy gained a 0.38 per cent swing at the 2022 election.
He said he wasn’t a “defeatist”, but a lot was stacked against him.
“It’s one of the safest National Party seats in Australia, and it is a formidable task that can only be solved with millions and millions of dollars,” Mr Lahy said.
He said issues that needed sharp focus in the Mallee in the next term of government included banking, housing, health and healthcare.
“Politics in Australia has become a very unpredictable beast … and Anne Webster (incumbent MP) will probably be wondering how this will go this time around,” Mr Lahy said.
“I talk to lots of young families who are on the cusp of sending their children to university and I’m in that sphere of understanding that finding housing outside your hometown in the electorate of Mallee is really, really difficult.
“And even here in Swan Hill, I’m talking to all the professionals.
“There’s a group of five teachers, for example, at Swan Hill College, and the only house they can find is in Ultima.
“It’s just madness.
“With the cost of living and housing crisis, inflation and interest rate rises and a drum beat for war, it has never been more urgent to consider the welfare and interests of the next generations.
“Young people need hope and optimism and vision for the future.”
Dr Webster has held the Mallee seat for the Nationals since 2019.
