THEY might be direct, but Darryl and Vicky Prestwidge say the signs outside their home needed to be in order to make a difference to the greyhound ban.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Prestwidges have mounted signs on their front fence and cars, putting Premier Mike Baird and Deputy Premier Troy Grant alongside dictators Adolf Hitler and Kim Jong-un, along with the message to put The Nationals last at the Orange byelection.
Greyhound owners Mr Prestwidge and his friend, Martin Hallinan, each created signs with money out of their own pockets, which do not support any other party.
He said it was not enough just to advise people to put The Nationals last on their ballot papers, saying the greyhound ban was high-handed and the government spent $1.6 million on an advertising campaign supporting it.
“I wanted to have something stronger with more impact – it’s not the Australian way, the way those fellows went about it,” he said.
Mrs Prestwidge admitted she was surprised by the signs when she first saw them.
I wanted to have something stronger with more impact.
- Greyhound owner Darryl Prestwidge
“My son said prepare for the house to be egged and I thought he might be right but so far that hasn’t happened,” she said.
“We didn’t want to not say anything – we didn’t want to think maybe we should have done something and put our opinion across.”
On the contrary, Mr Prestwidge said they had garnered a lot of attention, with a lady at Mullion Creek taking a photo of his van recently.
With Mr Baird backing down on the ban last week in favour of a panel led by former premier Morris Iemma to take the industry forward, Mr Prestwidge said the signs remained up because the industry’s future structure was still unclear.
“I’m still a bit skeptical about what will happen,” he said.
“Until it’s all sorted, we don’t feel anything has been achieved,” Mrs Prestwidge said.
Mr Prestwidge’s father owned greyhounds and he took on the hobby in 2013 with five dogs.
He said he liked the breed’s nature and enjoyed training.