“I PLEDGE to turn up to Saturday barbecues with a sheep on my shoulder, a slab of beer and a dozen bottles of premium wine.”
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With these words Ian Donald launched his campaign as the eighth and final candidate in the Orange byelection.
Mr Donald, a geologist and business consultant from Spring Hill, is standing as an Independent in the November 12 poll.
Should he win he vowed to be available to voters, something he believed is absent in the upper reaches of NSW politics.
“They’re not talking to their party members or the people of NSW,” Mr Donald said, arguing the advice of public servants is more highly prized than public opinion by Premier Mike Baird and Opposition leader Luke Foley.
“They’re not turning up to neighbourhood barbecues.”
Two key policy platforms of Mr Donald’s campaign are the further legalisation of medical marijuana and an overhaul of licensing requirements for motorists.
The Independent claimed making medical cannabis more readily available to those in need would help both patients and a justice system buckling beneath the weight of the drugs scourge
He wants to see cannabis prescribed by doctors so “treatment can be better targeted”.
“If we control the supply, we can identify the users and we can start helping the addict,” Mr Donald said.
Mr Donald identified what he believes are obtainable financial and safety benefits from revamping the current car licensing system, highlighting registration and green slips as two of the costs taking money away from families.
He wants to see provisional drivers’ licenses abolished in favour of more stringent and advanced training and to create a partnership with the state’s police’s highway patrol officers to educate young drivers.
He said the officers would be able to teach drivers what to do in an emergency thanks to their experience.
“It’s not a question of passing the L plates but reaching a level of competency,” Mr Donald said.
“Highway patrol drivers would gauge that competency.”
Mr Donald is the third independent candidate in the byelection, joining Scott Munro and Kevin Duffy. Bernard Fitzsimon (Labor), Scott Barrett (Nationals), Dianne Decker (Christian Democrats), Phil Donato (Shooters) and Janelle Bicknell (Greens) round out the field. Nominations have now closed.
Declan Rurenga
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
