POLITICS was never in the plan for James Laurie, but now the Eaglehawk man is running for the Federal electorate of Bendigo as an independent.<\/p>\n
Mr Laurie joined the pool of candidates just two weeks ago with the help of supporters of the unregistered Australia One party.<\/p>\n
He said he is also a supporter of the party but is not a member and is not controlled by them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in most of their values, not all, but most,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Among the far right party\u2019s policies listed on their website is repealing section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act<\/em>, which Mr Laurie said he supports.<\/p>\n He said he hasn\u2019t been happy with politicians over the years, particularly regarding the Victorian Government\u2019s COVID-19 restrictions and on a Federal level sending \u201cmoney overseas\u2026 before we help our own people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur voices aren\u2019t heard, I don\u2019t believe. Me running as an independent is the only way I can get the Bendigo people and surrounding districts heard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI never wanted to go into politics, I never had any aspirations to do it at all but it\u2019s more like if I don\u2019t do it, who\u2019s going to do it?\u201d<\/p>\n Despite COVID-19 regulations like vaccine mandates being set at a state level, Mr Laurie said a Federal member is \u201csupposed to be a voice for the people\u201d.<\/p>\n He said his top priority is keeping families together by lowering the cost of living and wants Australian made products \u201cacross the board\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m for Australia, I want Australian made products when we can make them. I don\u2019t see why we should import things from overseas when we can do them ourselves. We should be self-sufficient, we\u2019re one of the greatest countries in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see why farmers should have to compete with imports coming in when their fruit is dropping on the ground and going to waste.\u201d<\/p>\n Other focuses listed on Mr Laurie\u2019s website include social cohesion, economic power, small business support, military power, freedom of choice and political freedom.<\/p>\n Mr Laurie said he\u2019s lived in Bendigo for 20 years working in various industries including security and truck driving.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a bit of an underdog but I\u2019m going to give it a good fight and I\u2019m here to win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POLITICS was never in the plan for James Laurie, but now the Eaglehawk man is running for the Federal electorate of Bendigo as an independent. Mr Laurie joined the pool of candidates just two weeks ago with the help of supporters of the unregistered Australia One party. He said he is also a supporter of […]<\/p>\n