Greens announce Ballarat candidate

FORMER City of Ballarat mayor John Barnes has been announced as the Greens candidate for seat of Ballarat at the upcoming Federal election.

Mr Barnes has filled many roles in the region over decades and said he is happy to “put himself forward” in representing the Greens in the yet to be announced national poll.

“I’ve been active in this community for many decades, and I’m so concerned about the impact of climate change, in particular, on my grandkids and future generations,” he said.

“I couldn’t sit back and do nothing about all this. We need to get the major parties serious about the climate crisis.”

Mr Barnes served as mayor of the City of Ballarat from 1999 to 2001, and as board chair of Central Highlands Water for nine years during the millennium drought of the early 2000s.

He is the Green’s second candidate for the Federal electorate of Ballarat for the upcoming election, with the previous applicant stepping down due to a conflict of interest.

Alongside the Greens’ goals to reduce emissions and adopt more renewable energy plans, Mr Barnes said there are many issues within Ballarat itself that need to be dealt with.

“There are some big infrastructure projects that are required for Ballarat that need to be assessed by Infrastructure Australia and therefore funded,” he said.

“The upgrading of the Ballarat to Melbourne train line and the assessment of the Ballarat link road are two projects that really badly need to be done here.”

At a national level, the Greens are advocating for free education through to university, the construction of social and public housing, as well as the introduction of dental and mental health for Medicare, and tax increases for the wealthy.

Mr Barnes said that, although climate change is a global issue, its impact is “as important in Ballarat as it is anywhere else.”

“Ballarat’s position as being at the top of a number of water catchments means that we are vulnerable to drought,” he said.

“There’s also water shortages, fire, and the issue of rising sea levels is going to put pressure on places like Ballarat as people get squeezed out of Melbourne because the coastal areas will become uninhabitable.

“I’ve always sought to get involved with issues I feel strongly about like these. I haven’t always won in my endeavours, but this one is important enough to get involved even at the risk of losing again.”

Voting for the federal election will take place sometime in May.