Talk:Wikinews interviews Craig Farquharson, Liberal Democrat candidate for 2020 Groom by-election
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[edit][REDACTED] 2:14 PM (2 hours ago) to [REDACTED], Craig, me, [REDACTED]
HI [REDACTED],
I have not seen Craig send you his response yet; so I am assuming he is being run off his feet today.
To ensure we meet your deadline, here is Craig’s agreed response below to each of your questions.
You may quote him for any of the responses.
1. Why are you running to be Groom's local MP?
What prompted me to run as a candidate in Groom is, because as a small business owner, I could not get my elected MP to talk to me or even to call me back.
I became “cheesed off” with elected representatives who are inaccessible to their electorate, and resolved to do something about it. I have pledged that if elected I will be as accessible as possible to voters in my electorate.
After 36 years of being a safe Coalition seat, the electorate is ready for change, and wants the additional attention that a more marginal electorate gets, or alternately another party to represent them.
As a Liberal Democrat, I guarantee I can get more attention for the voters of the Groom electorate, and a better deal from government.
Being accessible and listening to voters would be step 1 in promoting a better deal for Groom.
2. The Liberal Democrats are a party of small government and cutting "red tape"- what's one particular law you think needs revising?
Liberal Democrats would like to see subsidies dropped and for all technologies to compete on an equal basis to keep electricity prices and the costs of living as low as competition between companies and technologies can get them.
But one of the big issues for Groom is actually “green tape” rather than “red tape”. It is essential for jobs in the region for Acland Mine to receive environmental approvals to extend the mine. This is both a Federal and a State issue.
While Australia can switch to alternative technologies to generate power and for energy, many undeveloped nations depend on cheap electricity to lift their billions out of poverty. And responding to this demand, providing a better quality of coal would not only be an environmental improvement, for humanity and for alleviation of global poverty, it is the right thing to do. And jobs would be created in the Groom electorate. I see this as a triple bottom line win for all stakeholders, enabled by a cutting “green tape” decision.
3. You own a vape store in Toowoomba. Do you think that there's reforms that need to be made in regards to e-cigarette laws and drug laws as a whole?
We in Liberal Democrats would like to see some of the restrictions relaxed to enable people to take personal responsibility for their own health. We do not believe recreational drug use should be criminalised - this is harmful to society and funnels money to dangerous gangs via the black market. We believe that drug abuse is a separate matter to use, and should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal matter. We would like to see relaxation of the rules according to the evidence and a scientific / medical approach, rather than using heavy handed legislation and rules enforced by unfeeling bureaucrats. These are personal health problems to be addressed by individuals and their health advisers; not by the justice system or the bureaucrats.
4. What are your thoughts on the COVID-19 response plan federally from the Morrison government?
The Morrison government made a mistake with National Cabinet which has empowed State Premiers to become petty authoritarians with rules and lockdowns beyond what safety required.
MLC and Liberal Democrat, David Limbrick, has become a public voice for many in Victoria from his speeches and posts on the lockdown in Victoria. Let me be clear, Liberal Democrats do believe in public health and safety measures. We are concerned about every single person, including the elderly, the infirm, the vulnerable and our magnificent health workers (our doctors and nurses are real heroes, who I would like to acknowledge and to applaud – real heroes. Thank you to all our health workers) and for their health during a world pandemic. But seriously, a more objective and scientific approach would have been more effectively implemented which kept us all safe, while not putting a wrecking ball through the economy, throwing millions out of work onto the unemployment scrap heap, and sending to the wall hundreds of thousands of small businesses, depriving them, their families and their employees of any ongoing income.
5. Why did you decide to join the Liberal Democrats?
Liberal Democrats have principles similar to my own values, and similar to the values of most small business owners and with many in the electorate, who see themselves as responsible adults able to run their own lives and make most of their own decisions.
https://www.ldp.org.au/principles
6. The Liberal Democrats have not ever been successful in winning a seat in the House of Representatives and have never run in the seat of Groom. What is your goal as a candidate this election?
We shall be delighted if we make some impact on the arrogance of the major parties with our campaign. We shall be even more delighted if we are able to deliver a better deal from the Federal Government for the voters of Groom.
Our aim is to restrict the two major parties to no more than the proportion of votes they each received last general election. We are happy to receive the remaining votes.
7. How have COVID-19 restrictions impacted your ability to campaign?
There are very few Covid restrictions in Queensland which have had any impact on campaigning. Every business premises has a Covid plan – but that generally has not restricted either voters to participate, nor Liberal Democrats to get our message across. The border closures which are keeping family members apart, and preventing people from accessing health care, hospitals and services closest to their homes is a far greater impact on them than on us with our campaign. We empathise with those who are still impacted or restricted or who have suffered with this disease.
8. What's one key issue in Groom that you think needs acting on?
Groom has not previously been a marginal electorate, so has not attracted its share of funding for infrastructure over the past 36 years with an LNP representative. Nor have voters of Groom received the amount of attention from government they deserve. Consequently there are water, road and infrastructure problems to resolve. We aim to make Groom a marginal electorate, if we cannot win the seat outright ourselves to hold the government accountable personally. My approach is to listen to the community and to those enterprises in the electorate which employ the people of Groom; and to represent them. The principles of Liberal Democrats are the prism through which my perceptions and solutions will be based. Most of all, and the key issue in Groom, is to listen to the electorate and to represent voters to get for this community, what this community needs.
Thank you for this opportunity to present my views and to answer your questions, [REDACTED].
Best wishes for you future success in journalism.
Craig
Kind Regards,
[REDACTED]
Phone [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
--LivelyRatification (talk) 05:44, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
- Forwarded the email correspondence to scoop.--LivelyRatification (talk) 05:45, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
Review of revision 4594079 [Passed]
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Revision 4594079 of this article has been reviewed by Acagastya (talk · contribs) and has passed its review at 15:06, 27 November 2020 (UTC).
Comments by reviewer: Nice work. The reviewed revision should automatically have been edited by removing {{Review}} and adding {{Publish}} at the bottom, and the edit sighted; if this did not happen, it may be done manually by a reviewer. |
Revision 4594079 of this article has been reviewed by Acagastya (talk · contribs) and has passed its review at 15:06, 27 November 2020 (UTC).
Comments by reviewer: Nice work. The reviewed revision should automatically have been edited by removing {{Review}} and adding {{Publish}} at the bottom, and the edit sighted; if this did not happen, it may be done manually by a reviewer. |