A FARMER, arborist and part-time Santa has put his hand up for the seat of Mallee, nominating as a Libertarian candidate at next month’s Federal Election.
Jeff Barry, 59, became increasingly interested in politics in 2015 when then Liberal-Democrat, David Leyonhjelm, launched a Senate inquiry into the Australian “nanny state”.
Mr Barry took the view that there should be less government intrusion in everyday life, and aligned himself to the Liberal Democrats, now known as the Libertarian Party.
Living on a farm at Amphitheatre inside the southern boundary of the Mallee electorate, Mr Barry said he felt compelled to put his name forward this Federal Election in an attempt to see change.
“We’re after smaller government, less taxes, more freedom and reducing government overreach,” Mr Barry said.
“You know what you want to do in your life better than any government politician.
“They shouldn’t have the authority to make a lot of decisions about your personal life.”
He said the Libertarian Party represented a mindset of allowing people to have freedom to do what they like, as long as it caused no harm to others.
Having not run for local, state or federal politics before, he said he hoped voting patterns would start to shift away from major parties, to shake the status quo.
“This election is not going to turn things around but it can be the beginning of turning things around,” he said.
“Voting for the same parties is going to get the same result.
“It’s not like your parents when they voted Liberal or Labor, the parties have changed so much from those days.
“We’ve got to get fresh blood in there that is not owned by big corporations.”
Mr Barry said his main ambition for the seat of Mallee was to reduce government taxation burdens on farmers.
“I’m trying to help people, I’m not looking for reward in return,” he said.
“Probably a little bit more like Kris Kringle or Santa … what I’m trying to do is help without necessarily the thank you.
“I don’t need the thank you, it would make me feel good to see Mildura residents thrive.
“If we can help the farmers, that’s going to help the residents also that are not necessarily farming-related, but it’s all tied into farming.”
Mr Barry and Libertarian Senate candidate for Victoria Jordan Dittloff were in Mildura on Friday evening and Saturday morning, handing out flyers to promote the party and its policies.
The party had stated it would seek to have the government scrap the fuel excise, open up the housing market, slash supermarket price gouging, and sustainably reduce government spending to bring down the cost of living.
Mr Barry used to be a Liberal/National Party voter, but said the Coalition had “lost its way”, and alongside Labor, The Greens and Teal independents, were increasing financial burdens on farms and businesses to unsustainable levels.
“Do expect to see me in another three years time to run for the seat again,” Mr Barry said.
“Whether I get elected or not, it is my intention to keep running until I die, perhaps.
“I feel I owe a lot of people the sort of life that I’ve actually had.
“We need to get rid of the government oversight that is killing what’s Australian.”
