Born and raised in Griffith, Brian left his hometown to work as an engineer, invited to projects as far away as the US, Japan and Indonesia.
But on returning years later to look after his mum, he was stunned to discover Griffith was devolving from one of the fastest-growing inland cities in Australia to just another town buckling under the weight of severe drought.
“So three of us from high school got together to do research and work out what we could do. We talked to our local members and found they were peanuts,” he said.
“The only option was we’d have to go political. I drew the short straw and so that’s where we are.”
Five years ago, Brian put his hand up for politics.
And he said it’s been a disaster ever since.
He ran as an independent in the 2015 state election, the 2016 federal election and the 2017 Murray by-election but said there was no debate between the candidates throughout that time.
“There’s not a lack of debate. There is zero,” he said.
“When the by-election for Barnaby Joyce was on there were 18 candidates and I made contact with half of them and said, ‘You’ve got to confront him’.
“And none of them did. So when it came to a forum, Barnaby said, ‘I’m not going to debate’. So there were no forums and Barnaby got in.
“This whole system is just the reason why we will continue to go downhill.”
But Brian said he would continue to get his name on the ballot papers year after year as long as it gave voters more choice.
“I had a radio interview recently and was asked what I was planning to do if I won the election. I said, ‘I’m not going to win the election’,” Brian said.
“And the interviewer said, ‘Well, then why are you here?’ And I said, ‘It’s conscience’. If you’re an ordinary person and you try to hound (politicians), you can’t do it. But if you’re an opponent, then you can keep on, and that’s what I’ll be doing.
“Whether I achieve anything, only time will tell.”
Brian comes armed with a robust list of 27 policies – most of them focused on tackling the water crisis.
“I believe the water crisis could be addressed very easily,” he said.
“The thing is many people say the main problem with the Darling River is the huge over-allocation of water licences.
“And so my policy is that no pump should be allowed to operate above the lower Darling unless there is downstream water flow. Now how simple and logical is that?”
Another policy details Brian’s blueprint for reversing the separation of water from land.
“(The separation) means anyone – including people in Sydney, including people in China – can buy water and the price is rocketing,” he said.
“But some farmers in Barham have written a book called ‘High and Dry’ which says free trading water will cripple Australian agriculture … and they say it has to be reversed, it can be reversed, and then they tell how it could be done.
“So that’s one of my policies, showing how it’s done.”