Australian Workers Party candidate Ed Caruana will run for the seat of Lyne in the upcoming Federal Election in May.
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Dr David Gillespie is the current Nationals Federal Member for the seat, which he will contest for the fourth time.
Nabiac resident Phil Costa will be Labor's candidate, Jeremy Miller will run as an independent, Lauren Edwards will stand for the Greens and Garry Bourke for United Australia.
Ed Caruana was born to Maltese parents in Western Sydney and became an apprentice electrician. He joined a union and remained a member throughout his career. He married and had a son and daughter and eventually moved to Country Energy in Port Macquarie and built a house in King Creek near Wauchope.
The family bought a small property in Byabarra, west of Wauchope, and farmed beef cattle. His marriage ended and he now lives at Blackmans Point. Ed has done a Masters in Business Administration and now owns a business and is a deputy captain in the Rural Fire Service. He says his reasons for embarking on this political journey is change.
"I'm tired of looking at stupid decisions, fed up of seeing our businesses close, sick of listening to non-gender bias political correctness, watching our car manufacturing go overseas, seeing our farms starve while offering foreign aid, seeing our lands destroyed and sold off by big corporations and gas fracking," he said.
"We need to change, we need a national treaty with our first peoples. We need big business to prosper and make money, paying their fair share of taxes. We need our military and their families supported. We need Australia to remain a unique mix of peace and a society that respects individuals' rights to religious and personal freedoms.
"We need to hold executives and politicians accountable and remove the philosophy of entitlement. We need a better place for a grandchildren and their grandchildren. I love Australia and where I live, I'm over short-term politics and want to improve our country for the better."
The issues he would like to see addressed are:
- a 24-hour manned police station at Wauchope.
- establishing a mandatory coastal clean-up program along with existing community groups
- the reintroduction of manners in school, opening doors, assisting the elderly to cross roads, all men and young boys offering their seats to the elderly, disabled, or women and children
- workforce guarantees, an Australian Peace Corp where citizens would serve with either the military (in a paid capacity) or voluntarily with a volunteer group for a mandatory 12 months to two years should they not be able to gain permanent employment within three months of leaving school.
- unemployed youth, migrants or refugees would be subject to two years' service in line with any paid welfare benefits
- a free school contract pilot where parents would sign an agreement to assist and participate in their child's education. School is not a babysitting service.
- mandatory introduction of Learner basic car maintenance as part of driver learning programs
- a treaty recognising indigenous Australians as custodians of our lands, full inclusiveness and fair say in mining, logging, fracking, land ownership etc
- balance and sustainability restored to our country, more investment in at-home micro generation, more investment in renewables
- introduce a tax system that ensures we all pay our fair share
- a royal commission into political entitlements, aligning these to the Australian workforce
- mandatory expulsion of refugees or migrants committing serious crimes, in particular those against women and children
- re-introduction of compulsory standing and singing our anthem at every school daily and all major sports events