Animal party names local candidates

AS November’s State election draws closer, candidates for the Animal Justice Party’s tilt at Bendigo’s lower house seats have been announced.

In Bendigo East the AJP has named Quarry Hill resident Vyonne McLelland-Howe, while endorsed for Bendigo West is Castlemaine’s Victoria Maxwell.

The two local candidates join current political staffer, and lead on the AJP’s Northern Victoria upper house ticket, Georgie Purcell.

“I am so proud to be running alongside Vyonne and Vix,” Ms Purcell said. “I know they will make our region a kinder and better place for animals, people and the planet if elected.”

Standing in Bendigo East, Ms McLelland-Howe is a retired family lawyer and said her work in that space helped form ideas about “the effects of control and disempowerment.”

She’s also a member of the Bendigo Australian Conservation Foundation and the Wildlife Rescue & Information Network.

“I think people would be surprised by how much of a difference they can make,” she said.

“People get overwhelmed and think there’s nothing they can do to stop climate change but there is and they have more power than they know.”

On the ballot in Bendigo West, Ms Maxwell is a recent arrival to the region having relocated from the UK where she lived for 10 years.

She’s a trained high school English and drama teacher and worked as a specialist autism educator before staring her own business while also writing young adult fiction and non-fiction books.

A focus for Ms Maxwell is bringing an end to duck shooting and greyhound racing in the state.

“We’re more aware than ever of the issues around climate change and animal exploitation,” she said.

“If we want a better future, we have to create it, and now is the time for us all to both act and vote with compassion and kindness towards all beings.

“I’d never given any thought to getting involved in politics until I discovered the Animal Justice Party. At election time it often feels like we are just choosing between the least worst option, but the AJP gives us a third option.”

At the 2018 State election the AJP didn’t stand a candidate in Bendigo East, while in Bendigo West they captured 6.38 per cent of the primary vote.

In the upper house for Northern Victoria Region the party received 2.25 per cent of first preference votes.

The only current State parliamentarian for the AJP is freshman member of the Legislative Council, Andy Meddick, who was elected on preferences to the fifth and last place in Western Victoria region in 2018.