Independent candidate Rob Taber is thinking perhaps the New England Electorate might be ready for change, especially after the antics of the past week or so, and so decided to put his best foot forward again.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"They all say Independents can't do much, but we've seen in the past, Tony Windsor, Richard Torbay and Peter Draper, Independents who achieved a lot. It's about being able to go right up the middle and breaking these parties up a bit," Independent candidate Rob Taber said.
It's also about representing small business and I believe small business is battling red tape.
- Rob Taber
A candidate in the last three elections, Mr Taber thought the same issues were still as relevant now as they had been then, and he said some were even worse.
"The real issue that everybody is talking about is obviously climate change, and that's something I have been on about for the last three elections," he said.
"It's also about representing small business and I believe small business is battling red tape. At the moment agriculture is bleeding badly, and if we don't do something very soon to support the farmers, particularly with this drought now, we're going to lose a lot of smaller farmers and family farms.
ALSO READ:
"And I've been saying for a long time, we need to be subsidising interest for farmers and that needs to be through a government controlled bank, like the old Commonwealth Development Bank."
Mr Taber said The Nationals should have taken on drought proofing a long time ago.
"They will maintain they have been throwing money at it, and they certainly have," he said.
"But it's only been bits and pieces and always when it is too late. Not once have they ever come forward with a plan that's sustainable, and there are sustainable plans that could be put in place to help farmers to be drought poof.
"There should have been a long-term plan about how we used the water. It takes a lot of water to be able to flood irrigate that black soil plain. I think we're using the water in the wrong way. We've got to change the way we use it, and that needs a lot of planning."
Mr Taber thought today's political parties just seemed to be at each other all the time and were not making sensible decisions.
"I would love to be in a position where I could just go in there and say, 'Right, let's just sit down and talk about this in a proper manner." he said.
