At 57, the Castlemaine local spends his mornings as a school crossing supervisor, making sure kids get safely across the road before the school bell rings.
But come election day, he’s aiming to cross into a whole new arena.
Mr Taylor will be standing for Legalise Cannabis Victoria in the Northern Victoria upper house race.
Despite the party’s breakthrough in 2022 — which saw two of its candidates elected to parliament — Mr Taylor believes the region of northern Victoria has been largely overlooked ever since.
“If I get voted in, I can give a voice to our region and start undoing some of the damage,” he said.
Mr Taylor's advocacy goes back decades — to age 18, when he first turned to cannabis to manage anxiety. A subsequent battle with alcohol during his years working in real estate only deepened his conviction that Australia’s drug laws are well overdue for reform.
“I’ve been an advocate since day one,” Mr Taylor said. “We need a common sense approach — especially on drug-driving laws.”
While recent legal changes do allow medicinal cannabis users to mount a defence if they can prove they were unimpaired, Mr Taylor argues the system still punishes people who are doing the right thing.
“We don’t want impaired drivers on the road,” he said.
“But there shouldn’t be anything wrong with taking your prescribed medicine the night before, waking up clear-headed, and driving your truck to work the next morning.”
Mr Taylor’s vision also includes developing Victoria’s hemp industry — an area he’s been researching closely ahead of the Victorian Hemp Association’s annual meeting — alongside a complete overhaul of regional roads.
“Fixing individual potholes isn’t cutting it anymore,” he said.
“You fix one, another pops up right beside it. Our roads need a full renewal.”
Mr Taylor’s platform has expanded into the everyday realities of rural life: decaying roads, housing shortages, crumbling healthcare and a sluggish state economy.
And unlike career politicians refined by party machinery, Mr Taylor leans into his outsider status.
“I’m not a politician — I never got into this to become one. But I’m ready to stir the pot,” he said with a laugh.
“I just want to give our region a real voice, find common ground with other parties, and fix what’s broken.”
With group voting tickets now abolished — meaning voters, not parties, control where preferences flow — Mr Taylor is confident 2026 represents his strongest opportunity yet.
His pitch is straightforward: a no-nonsense, grassroots voice for regional Victoria, willing to work with whoever it takes to get results.
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