FOUNDING members of the newly formed Country Party were in Moree last week to meet and greet locals and hear their concerns.
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David Mailler, who is running as a CP endorsed independent for the Northern Tablelands at the upcoming state election, said the issues discussed were declining services, terms of trade and populations in rural communities.
“It was very heartening to hear from the people we met today that they were concerned about these trends and they wanted to do something about it,” Mr Mailler said.
“Some want to work within the current system, but in my case I want to work outside the system.
“I want to force the change or be the change.”
The Uralla farmer said he was driven to political action out of frustration and concern over the future of his children.
“I’ve got a boy of 17 doing his HSC at the moment, I’ve got two girls of 15 and 13,” he said.
“Where are their opportunities in these rural communities? I’d like to see them have the same opportunities that I did growing up, to have families and careers in and around these rural communities.
Mr Mailler said the party wanted to empower local electorates to develop solutions to these issues and to create resilient communities.
“We’ve got to change something because, for 30 years, all we’ve seen is declining terms of trade, declining population in our rural communities and it won’t end until we go off a cliff, unless we can find a mechanism, a trigger to turn that around.
“Moree has a lot more resilience than most other communities, but it is still on the decline and we can look to other communities that have declined to see the evidence that things are not healthy.”
Pallamallawa farmer Oscar Pearse said the party was looking at promoting a number of policies to improve farm-gate returns and, in doing so, address declining populations and opportunities in agriculture-based towns like Moree.
They included looking at natural resource management such as the native vegetation act, and water and land rights.
He said the party was also looking at addressing the cost of doing business for small or family enterprises by tackling compliance issues and other impediments.
Mr Pearse said the party wanted to provide a conservative alternative for disaffected voters and make safe National Party seats contested.