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Having stood as a candidate for the Citizens Party at every election since 1998, you might say I am a glutton for punishment, but with four adult children and 13 grandchildren, I refuse to give up on fighting for a better future for them and for the people of the Northern Territory. The ACP is not a populist party that just wants to be elected for the sake of power; our candidates fight for real policy solutions which put the welfare of the people ahead of powerful vested interests, and that makes us very unpopular with the Establishment and their political hacks.

I’ve lived and operated an earth-moving contractor business in Humpty Doo for over 30 years; I grew up on a wheat and sheep property in Western Australia; served six years in the Australian Navy and worked as a heavy equipment mechanical fitter and construction supervisor, so I feel I have a good understanding of the difference between a productive economy that produces real physical wealth, and the phony financial house-of-cards economy we have today.

The Citizens Party’s policy platform is focused on reforming Australia’s banking system. First of all we must break the oligopoly of the greedy Big Four banks that are 80% owned by foreign interests, and which have arrogantly closed thousands of banks across Australia, depriving people of banking services, and threatening the use of cash. We urgently need a publicly-owned Aussie Post Bank to protect deposits and guarantee banking services, and to direct government credit into major infrastructure, manufacturing and agriculture programs.

We must also address the housing crisis. The NT has the highest rate of homelessness in Australia, 12 times the national average and over half of those are under 25. People have given up on being able to rent safe affordable housing and home ownership is a pipe dream. Over 41% of Northern Territorians with a mortgage, are in stress with more outgoing costs than income. The ACP has a plan for addressing this crisis, including legislation for a moratorium on home and business foreclosures, and a strategy to dramatically increase affordable public housing.

I am also deeply concerned about Australia’s foolish gung-ho confrontation with China, our largest trading partner and neighbour. The major parties’ subservience to AUKUS, their military bases and their short-sighted sell-out of Australian land and natural resources (much of which is in the electorate of Lingiari), has huge defence implications for us all. We must not only defend our economic sovereignty, but our national sovereignty as well!

The ACP’s policies and ideas represent real hope, especially for the younger generations who need to know that the future is worth fighting for. It is time to deliver an unequivocal message to the major parties that they have been “weighed in the balance and found wanting.” I ask for your vote and your support.