RISE Up Australia’s candidate for Mallee Tim Middleton said only a fool would expect anyone but the Nationals to win the seat on July 2.
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Mr Middleton, who gained 0.9 per cent of the vote during the 2013 election, said he wouldn’t waste a dollar betting incumbent member Andrew Broad would lose the seat.
He said running in this election isn’t about winning, but tackling issues he believes major parties won’t out of fear of offending swing voters.
“The Nationals are going to get in and only a fool would say otherwise,” he said.
“We’re standing to give people a focus on things the big parties won’t talk about.”
He said even though The Nationals would win the seat, Wimmera voters could show the party wasn’t their first choice.
Mr Middleton, of Cabrita in Mildura, runs a power-line company and said he was running to keep Australia in Australian hands.
“Our objective is to have 51 per cent of Australian land with Australian owners,” he said.
“The trend seems to be going the other way where we’re selling to the highest bidder – it’s short-sighted.
“Our government seems to think it’s better to make a quick buck and worry about the future later.”
Mr Middleton believes food production has the potential to be Australia’s next mining boom.
“The area for food production is not increasing but the population is,” he said.
“Going forward you’ll either be a farmer or work for a farmer and we’d rather see Australian owners, not just workers.”
Mr Middleton said Rise Up was not anti-immigration, but had a firm belief Australia should have only one cultural identity.
“We’d prefer Australia to be multi-ethnic with one culture, Australian culture, rather than multicultural,” he said.
“We’re not saying people can’t come, but when they come they must be prepared to assimilate and become Australian.”
Mr Middleton also believes immigrants involved in serious criminal behaviour should be returned to their country of origin. He said people should not be deported for minor crimes.
“We get people coming from other countries and rather than assimilating they start gangs or get involved in crime,” he said.
“If you come into the country and start to carry out aggravated crime you should be asked to go back where you came from.”
