Liberal candidate back for state bout

LIBERAL candidate for Bendigo East, Darin Schade, said his State election campaign began as soon as the Federal election wrapped up.

Mr Schade went up against Labor’s Lisa Chesters in May, with the Labor member claiming her best result in the region with a 62.1 per cent margin.

The results indicated a five per cent swing away from the Liberal party.

However, Mr Schade said his mind was always on the State election.

“I was more interested in the State election than the Federal election,” he said. “When the party didn’t have a candidate for Bendigo they asked me to run in the Federal election, which is why I was quite a late announcement.”

As for what’s on his agenda this time around, Mr Schade said the region is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

“We have been bashed about by COVID as much as any other area of Victoria,” he said. “Tourism has been a lynchpin of the area for decades and to have people not being able to come up has affected our hospitality and retail.”

A big focus of his campaign will be on infrastructure, including roads and putting an “emphasis on regional growth.”

“We have got roads that need repair and further development because they’re not able to handle the amount of traffic coming in through Huntly and Maiden Gully,” he said.

Mr Schade also said he believes voters will still have the COVID-19 pandemic on their minds, criticising the State Government’s “draconian” restrictions.

“I think the people of Bendigo are going to remember that and I think in November that will be a really telling thing on the results,” he said.