THE United Australia Party\u2019s Terri Pryse-Smith will contest the Federal seat of Ballarat in next month\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
A recently retired agricultural science businessperson, former teacher and \u201cpassionate conservative\u201d, Ms Pryse-Smith said she needed to raise her hand when Clive Palmer called for candidates.<\/p>\n
She said small business operation has become \u201cmuch harder,\u201d freedoms have been \u201ceroded,\u201d and that the values of hard work, family and homeownership should be \u201crestored.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur freedoms have become so limited, and we\u2019ve seen huge government overreach. We want small government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like conservatism, it\u2019s a strength. If it\u2019s not broken, don\u2019t fix it. We\u2019re a conservative family… and fiscally we\u2019re conservative too. We\u2019ve always grown organically in business and believe in living within your means.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where the government\u2019s got it so wrong in the last 20 years; they haven\u2019t lived within their means, and when they inherited a surplus, they\u2019ve wasted it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got two adult children, and I want the same future for them that I had, to work hard, save money, and not give huge amounts to the government to waste on ridiculous schemes and policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freedom is one of her policy focuses, alongside reversing COVID-19 vaccination mandates, capping homebuyer interest rates at three per cent for five years, investing superannuation domestically, processing minerals in Australia, \u201ckick-starting\u201d the economy through new jobs, and creating \u201csafe nuclear power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Pryse-Smith will also advocate for infrastructure funding to keep up with growth, a \u201crevamp\u201d of the education system back to basics, and to bring back jobs in coal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think climate change is a complete and utter scam… To me, it\u2019s a trojan horse to implement things that will impoverish countries around the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis terrible attack and fear campaign on young people needs to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Pryse-Smith grew up in greater Melbourne. As a language teacher, she\u2019s worked in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Portugal, England and Australia.<\/p>\n
Alongside her husband, she has been marketing and selling assisted animal reproduction technologies for almost 30 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a very tough 20 years in the agriculture region. Our challenge has been to grow more animal on less land, so that\u2019s where artificial breeding and IVF comes into play,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to learn a whole new skillset besides teaching, but really loved being in the business world, the vet world, and working with wonderful farmers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith business skills behind me, I do have some advantage over a lot of career politicians. I\u2019m new, but I\u2019ll learn as I go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Pryse-Smith said she enjoys the lifestyle and opportunities that Ballarat provides, where she can go horse riding on her ten-acre Ross Creek property, and take a short drive to access artistic and cultural events in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy two major passions are my family, and my home. Homeownership is incredibly important in this country. It was always a dream of ours.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to restore the values of hard work… a home over our heads, a nice family, a nice meal, to send our kids to school, and to buy our own home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE United Australia Party\u2019s Terri Pryse-Smith will contest the Federal seat of Ballarat in next month\u2019s election. A recently retired agricultural science businessperson, former teacher and \u201cpassionate conservative\u201d, Ms Pryse-Smith said she needed to raise her hand when Clive Palmer called for candidates. She said small business operation has become \u201cmuch harder,\u201d freedoms have been […]<\/p>\n