GRIFFITH’S future is in serious jeopardy.
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Country Party of Australia chairman Pete Mailler is in Griffith in search of an independent candidate who will fight for their community.
The party was established by a group of farmers late last year who want a fair go for rural and regional communities.
Mr Mailler said the party was not yet registered, which meant it could not contest the NSW state election, but it was keen to throw its support behind independent candidates who shared its vision.
“The dominance of major parties for us now is a real issue as the party before country culture that prevails is killing our opportunity to have influence. They’re not responsive,” Mr Mailler said.
“If you cut to the most basic fundamentals of modern politics, safe seats are almost irrelevant to the political process. When someone forms government they look at who is definitely going to vote for them, they look at who is definitely not going to vote for them and they spend all their energy on people who might vote for them.”
Mr Mailler said most electorates in rural and regional NSW were considered safe seats, which meant there was little action by the government.
“They are as safe as houses and they don’t have to do anything for us,” he said.
Mr Mailler said the National Party’s alliance with the Liberal Party was an issue for rural and regional communities.
“Everyone says to me they're sick of the Nationals - 'they're not doing their job, they're not responsive, they don’t care about us'.”
Mr Mailler said the government needed to prioritise agriculture to ensure Griffith had a future.
“It’s clear to me the bare minimum is done in this electorate,” he said.
He said he had been contacted by a number of farmers from the Griffith area who were concerned about their future.
“Everybody says ‘we're sick of the Nationals, but who else do you vote for?’”
Mr Mailler said he supported the proposal of a Senate inquiry into the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
“In Griffith it is so obvious that the removal of production water has been a major major issue and the whole seat of Murray has been badly affected by that,” he said.
“I would support that (a Senate inquiry) as a first step but I would also support returning agricultural water to the system.
“You can argue all you want that we are going to make all these great environmental decisions … but the potential environmental disaster you are creating by putting undue stress and hardship on the operators now is immeasurable.
“Bureaucrats live in an artificial world. The decision to remove the water failed to adequately assess the socioeconomic impact.”
Mr Mailler said he couldn’t understand why the government did not “fix it immediately”.
“It’s fixable without spending any taxpayer money.
“You can fix it immediately and restore some optimism and confidence to maintain investment in the region. That’s a no brainer.”
Mr Mailler said despite some assertions that the local economy was improving, the number of empty shops and commercial buildings for sale in Griffith suggested otherwise.
“It’s like a lot of small towns – the greatest benchmark of how a town is going is to look at how many for sale or lease signs there are in the main street and there are a lot.”
He said farmers did not have money to invest in commercial property.
“If you squeeze their income there are all sorts of flow on effects,” he said.
Mr Mailler said he never wanted to start a political party but he was concerned about the future of rural and regional Australia.
The party is interested in hearing from someone who is keen to stand up for the rights of Griffith and district residents and run as an independent candidate in the state election for the seat of Murray.
For more informationvisit www.yourcountryparty.info/