General News
30 March, 2022
Local Wannon candidate hosts dinner
CANDIDATE for Wannon Amanda Mead brought a number of high-profile fellow Liberal Democrats to Mortlake over the weekend to host a campaign dinner.
CANDIDATE for Wannon AmandaMead brought a number of high-profile fellow Liberal Democrats to Mortlake over the weekend to host a campaign dinner.
Mrs Mead said the night had been “amazing,” with plenty of locals on hand to share their concerns ahead of this year’s election.
“I am so happy with how everything went,” she said.
“There was great support and everyone enjoyed themselves.”
Dubbed The Rise of Regional Victoria, the campaign event drew support from fellow Liberal Democrats including David Limbrick MP (via livestream), senate candidates Krystle Mitchell and Caroline White, candidate for Corangamite Paul Barker and candidate for Jagajaga Maya Tesa as guest speakers.
Comedian Ryan Etherington, political and community activist Jerikuei Anyuon and Liberal Democrats candidate for Wentworth (NSW) Daniel Lewkovitz were also in attendance.
Mrs Mead said the attendance of so many party members highlighted the strength in numbers approach for the party, and a willingness to hear the voices of those beyond electorate lines.
“The way all of us candidates and the party work is we’re a team,” she said.
“That’s the way we’re going to fix things, by playing to our strengths to help one another.”
Mrs Mead acknowledges she is a political neophyte but feels her understanding of the region has deepened while zigzagging across Wannon as part of her campaigning.
The owner of Mortlake-based salon Blush Boutique said she was quickly finding her feet.
“I’m learning a lot, and the only way we can improve ourselves is by continually learning,” she said.
“I’m starting to see where the cracks have formed and I think part of it is a disconnection between politicians and their communities.
“I absolutely love it. I love meeting new people and I love getting to help people.
“I am beginning to get so much support and corflutes are starting to pop up everywhere.”
Mrs Mead said issues she had discussed with voters included a need to remove excise taxes, particularly on fuel to support farmers.
“We need to look at taxes on fertiliser and we need to start producing things like urea in Australia,” she said.
“We’ve got such an abundance of natural gas, which is a large component of urea, and that would bring the costs down for farmers.
“These are some of the things I’m looking at for policies with other regional candidates.”