One Nation candidate looking to beef up Indi agriculture

ATHOL Thomas is hoping the community can delve deeper into party policies throughout the federal election campaign as he vies for the Indi seat as the One Nation candidate. Mr Thomas comes to the candidacy from an agricultural and mechanical background and an urge to have his say in his community. “I got involved because I figured you can sit back and get frustrated about where it’s all heading or you can get involved and try and make a difference at that level,” he said. After growing up in Western Australia, Mr Thomas moved to the North East in 2007, living in the Kiewa Valley since. He worked for 10 years at the ski fields at Falls Creek and had experience working at the Bogong Hydro Power Station before becoming a heavy equipment mechanic in Wodonga. Mr Thomas said energy, agriculture, housing and cost-of-living were in urgent need of being addressed in the electorate. “There’s a lot of upset people within the electorate in regards to Battery Energy Solar Systems and solar farms being put in,” he said. “Renewables certainly have a place but it’s probably not in prime agricultural farmland where we need to protect the food bowl. “One Nation is fully supportive of farmers and irrigators and with the current Murray-Darling legislation and buyback scheme that has been supported by Helen Haines, it doesn’t assist farmers who rely on irrigated waters within the electorate. “While the Liberals do their best to try and support that, they still run a similar agenda for net-zero and it’s not really supportive of the electorate whereas One Nation is. “We need to drive more effort into agriculture, it’s an enormous part of this electorate.” Mr Thomas said he has shown involvement in local issues, including Alpine Shire Council’s recent decision to not support a proposed Dederang Battery Energy Storage System. “I was extremely happy the councillors listened to the voices of the people in the shire and stood to recommend that it does not go ahead in the shire, it’s certainly not the spot for it in my opinion,” he said. “This valley has some of the best renewables already prior to solar and battery storage systems put in.” The One Nation party tallied the fourth most primary votes in the 2022 election under candidate Beth Stevens, with 5.28 per cent. Mr Thomas said he hoped to build on the momentum the party had established in the electorate. “Beth did an amazing job on a shoestring campaign budget last year and I’ll be running on the same thing,” he said. “You certainly don’t have the financial backing some of the other candidates have obtained so it’s going to the case of getting my face out there and meeting the right people. “I’ll see if we can increase One Nation’s reach and get people looking at alternate parties and policies, focusing on the great policies One Nation have.”

One Nation candidate looking to beef up Indi agriculture

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