Darin Schade ready to stand up

LIBERAL candidate for the Federal seat of Bendigo, Darin Schade, wants to reinvigorate his party’s presence in the region through his election campaign.

Mr Schade, who was born in Bendigo but currently lives and works in Melbourne, said he was asked to run after being told there was no local candidate, prompting a late start to his contest.

“I then turned around and said ‘I would’ve loved to have been able to announce a candidacy six months ago had I known that there wasn’t anybody here’ because I have a passion for the place, I am still here as much as I can be and to find out that there wasn’t a candidate was a surprise to me,” he said.

On whether the lack of candidates currently residing in the electorate should be a point of concern for voters, Mr Schade said the more important thing was eventually finding a candidate passionate about the region, with experience outside of politics and unions.

“I don’t think the fact that I’ve spent years working in Melbourne is a negative, I think it’s a positive,” he said.

Mr Schade said he has spent 20 years working in the banking industry and major corporations, and 12 years running a small business. He would move to Bendigo if elected.

Currently he said he works as a fintech consultant and environmental educator, and wants to bring environmental responsibility to his role as a Bendigo candidate.

Other issues top of mind are empty shopfronts in the CBD, road safety, housing affordability and jobs, and he said he was an “absolute fan” of the City of Greater Bendigo’s Regional Employment Precinct planned for Marong.

“We’ve got to work out how we can get the right jobs for the right people in the right timing and by supporting and getting retail and hospitality back on their feet, as well as having longer term plans for things like the employment precinct are things that I want to get the government to put as much support as they can into,” he said.

With Federal election campaigns in full swing across the country, including that of local Labor incumbent Lisa Chesters, Mr Schade said announcements would be made according to a Liberal party national campaign calendar and he would not respond to each of Ms Chesters’ funding pledges.

“We’re not playing that game. There will be more announcements coming up, Senator [Sarah] Henderson will be coming up here at some stage during the campaign and I’m looking forward to us being able to say more about things then,” he said.

Mr Schade said it would take “a lot of hard work” to win the electorate which has been held by Labor since 1998.

“It will depend [on] more than just what happens in Bendigo, there will be a broader decision on who the country thinks is better for their leadership and how well Bendigo follow that particular movement,” he said.

“However, what I want to do with this candidacy if I were to fail is to reinvigorate the Liberals within Bendigo so that when it comes to the State election and future elections, that we’re not looking for a candidate at the last moment.”

Mr Schade said a state campaign was “certainly” on his mind if he loses out on the Federal election, having previously represented the Liberals in the 2018 Victorian election in the seat of Melbourne.