A life-long agriculture advocate, a former army Colonel and a mental health advocate are now officially in the running for the seat of Farrer.
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They will represent One Nation, The Nationals and The Greens, respectively, following the completion of pre-selection processes for each party.
Predicted as the favourite in this paper last week, Conspicuous Service Cross recipient Brad Robertson was announced as The Nationals’ candidate.
For One Nation, the candidate is Speak Up 4 Water chair David Farley.
The Greens are going back to the polls with their 2025 Farrer contender Richard Hendrie, who holds qualifications in social work, psychology, and law and has lived experience with mental health.
Other confirmed candidates to date include Independent Michelle Milthorpe and another 2025 election candidate Rebecca Scriven, who is representing Family First.
The Liberals are yet to provide any advice on when its pre-selection process will progress.
NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton last week ruled herself out of contention for the Federal seat (see page 3).
A May 9 election date was confirmed late last week, with nominations for candidates closing on April 13.
Renowned political commentator Antony Green has predicted we may see quite a few candidates come out of the woodwork between now and then, saying it’s shaping up to be a “remarkable contest”.
Mr Robertson, his wife Katie and their children live at Table Top, near Albury.
He served in the military for almost 30 years, led a battalion deployed to Afghanistan in August 2012, and has dedicated his life to serving Australia.
Since leaving the Army, Mr Robertson has continued to serve through voluntary work with the Board of Directors of the Sunshine Trust, and is currently the chair.
He has also worked tirelessly to help veterans, serving as chair of both the Carry On organisation and Veteran Housing Australia.
Mr Robertson said he was honoured to have been preselected by the grassroots membership of The Nationals.
“I am committed to making our region a better place for families,” he said.
“Times are tough here, with drought hitting hard and the cost of living going through the roof. People in the regions want actions and solutions.”
Sitting down with the Pastoral Times before Saturday’s One Nation pre-selection vote, Mr Farley said he intends to make water policy his number one priority if he is elected.
With whoever is elected at the by-election only serving a partial term, until the next election proper, Mr Farley said getting this important issue sorted first would then filter down to other priorities like health, education and cost of living.
“I am very familiar with water. It’s literally been my life from my early days working at FS Falkiner & Sons to what I did in northern Australia, to what I did in Californaia, Arizona, and New Mexico, what I did with projects in the former Soviet Union and in the Savannah. So have a fair handle on water politics - both commercially and emotionally.
“The reality of water is that it is no longer an environmental asset; it is a sovereign asset of security.
“Water underwrites our ability to feed ourselves, to protect our citizens if ever challenged with blockades, it definitely comes to the forefront in drought, and it builds communities and builds resilience in the nation.
“Water is no longer an issue for the paddock, it’s an issue for the supermarket. It’s no longer an issue just for regional towns, it’s an issue for the nation.
“I am very aware that Australia has invested in a water extraction policy (attached to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan) that takes water out of the consumptive pool of irrigation water for food, to apply to pure environmental assets.
“We have done by borrowing the money, and by the time you take the cost of that debt - 10 year treasury bonds at 4.48 per cent, and work out interest and the cost of running Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, water infrastructure offices, and par lay that over to the basin states - it comes to $2.4 billion a year, just to run the Basin Plan.
“What we have to look at, is what are we foregoing for that each year.
“That’s two new Wagga hospitals a year. And if not hospitals, education or defence.”
Mr Hendrie said The Greens campaign will highlight practical ways the federal government can fund the health, housing and energy needs of the Farrer electorate.’
His main platform will be a new single-site regional hospital for Albury-Wodonga.
“Australia is one of the richest countries in the world, and the level of access to essential services like health care in Farrer is simply not acceptable.
“I’m able to thrive after living with severe mental illness because of the quality of care and support I’ve received. This should be available to everyone.
“Farrer is an enormous electorate, home to a diversity of rural communities. The message we send on the national stage should be that Farrer communities are inclusive, welcoming and safe places to live and work - for everyone.”
The final declarations of nominations will be finalised by April 14, with early voting expected to start from April 28.