The Australian Country Party has announced that former Wangaratta Councillor Dr Julian Fidge will contest the next state election for the seat of Ovens Valley in northern Victoria.
Dr Julian Fidge said:
"I am honoured to be selected to represent the Australian Country Party in the upcoming state election."
"We are an independent party, unlike the National Party, who are merely powerless puppets of the Liberal Party who sell out rural Australia for $400,000 a year and some ministerial appointments they do not merit and cannot fulfil. The Country Party has no master, so we are able to properly represent country folk."
"I promise the people of northeast Victoria that I will raise their issues during the election campaign in order to make sure their concerns are brought to the attention of all the candidates."
"The main problem for me as a candidate is obviously the large primary vote the Nationals still garner. I will be asking the voters to consider the opportunities the Nationals have squandered here in northeast Victoria over the past 73 years they have held this seat, including the poor rail infrastructure and their inability to build sufficient water storage, including the Big Buffalo Dam."
Dr Fidge added,
"In my view, it now comes down to single broad question for voters: If you want your children to have a future in Victoria, you can't vote for the Nationals. The Nationals have consistently failed to adequately manage rural water, rural infrastructure, rural health and every other aspect of country life. The dairy industry has been decimated, we lurch from drought to flood and back again, and our regional rail system is worse than it was 100 years ago."
"The Country Party is now the only party that can properly represent rural Australia, and I will be demonstrating this throughout the campaign with good policies and plans for rural Victoria."
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