Independent perspective
a real representative
House of Representitives
Federal election 2025
Fairfax Electorate
Paul for Fairfax 2025
POLICIES ARE FOR PARTIES...
IDEAS ARE FOR INDEPENDENTS
"I think we can all safely say we are sick of the banal policies of Australia's major political parties. Each election cycle dredges up more of the same unimaginative promises which we know will never be kept, and the same glib talking points from politicians beholden to the party line and out of touch with the hopes and dreams of ordinary Australians."
MY IDEAS
Obviously I've got an idea or two myself...and some strong opinions, otherwise I wouldn't be seeking election!
...but as your representative - my ideas will continue to be informed by you the people of Fairfax!
Scroll below to see just some of the issues I'm thinking about, and please share your thoughts with me too!
 AUSTRALIAWe need our Aussie Mojo back! |  COST OF LIVINGHard working Australian's are struggling to make ends meet. |  IMMIGRATIONHigh immigration rates need infrastructure. |  ENERGYAustralia must embrace its sovereign energy sources. |
|---|---|---|---|
 ENVIRONMENTBetter planning, and reducing waste makes a healthy environment. |  GOVERNMENTGovernment should stick to its core business. |  INFRASTRUCTUREWe need to get serious about nation building. |  FOREIGN AFFAIRSAustralia needs to assert its soverignty in international affairs. |
 DEFENCESelf-reliance for a nation worth defending. |  THE ARTSArt and culture should flourish in a free society. |
Australia
We need our Aussie Mojo back!
Australia's National Identity
Australia is suffering from a crisis of national identity.
The Australia I grew up in was egalitarian, care-free, cohesive, brave and free-spirited,
but now we seem polarised, divided, angry, and timid.
What has happened to us?
More than anything else...
Australia must start believing in itself again!
Cost of Living
Hard working Australians are struggling to make ends meet.
Cost of Living Crisis
Everybody I speak to says the price of their weekly shop is now killing them. In fact the price of everything seems to have gone up and our dollar just doesn't go far anymore at all.
High inflation, aggressive interest rate rises, soaring electricity prices, rising insurance premiums and the list goes on...are all taking their toll!
Rent affordability is also crippling Sunshine Coasters. The lack of affordable accommodation is driving away our kids, who once they leave home can't afford live in the in the region they grew up in... and it is driving away our workers - hurting small businesses and reducing our services.
As living costs increase, families are burdened with massive pressures, and many are beginning to do without the things necessary for a happy and healthy life. This situation is causing chronic stress which is affecting people's physical and mental health, further reducing productivity and happiness.
The situation is reaching crisis point.
I believe that subsidies and hand-outs only make things worse and that the fundamental problems behind the high cost of living must be addressed!
Immigration
High immigration rates need infrastructure
Immigration
Australia's net migration was 446,000 in the 2024 financial year and 536,000 the previous year.
Despite a record low birth rate our population grew by around 2.1% in the year to June 2024 to around 27 million, and is tipped to reach 30 million by 2030. There is a post COVID spike factor involved which is beginning to normalise, but regardless - these are staggering figures that Australians need to talk about.
Here are my thoughts...
For me, I think the reality is - we are going to get a bigger Australia whether we like it or not, but too much immigration - too quickly is a threat to the stability of our economy, our national culture, our social cohesion and our environment.
The current immigration rate is too high.
I believe that to manage proper levels of immigration into the future, we need to urgently address our appalling lack of infrastructure.
Energy
Australia must embrace it foreign energy sources
Energy
I am a climate 'realist' not a denier and I understand how strongly people feel about the threat of global warming and the need to reduce global CO2 emissions.
But I also believe there are some realities of the Australian situation, which we really need to have a very serious and honest conversation about.
Here are my thoughts...
Our energy prices are rising, and our reliable energy supply is now under critical threat.
We are attempting to transition away from a sovereign source of reliable power (our coal and gas), which unlike our competitors, we have in abundance in our own country - and we want to transition to an unreliable source of power based on imported and limited-life alternative energy products, which cannot meet our needs.
Australia's contribution to world CO2 emissions is negligible, but the risk we are taking by giving away our sovereign ability to generate cheap and reliable power and instead become reliant on other countries technology and products, I think is a grave national mistake.
It will come at too high a cost to us, with no measurable benefit to the environment.
If we continue along this path, our energy prices will continue to rise, our industries will continue to decline, our sovereignty will be given up, and our people will suffer...
The problem is, we are now so heavily invested, emotionally and financially in net zero and the transition to 'renewables', that we are seem unable to recognise the impending disaster, and incapable of altering our course
In aviation human factors, we would call this 'task fixation' supported by 'confirmation bias'... and these traits are insidious causal factors in many air accidents.
I think we need to 'pull up', reassess the Australian energy situation with reason and perspective, ...and then with strong political leadership, take decisive action and do the right thing for Australia.
Environment
Better planning and reducing waste makes a healthy environment
PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT
There is no question from me that we need to do better at environmental planning and pollution control to support a healthy and sustainable environment in our country.
Despite Australia having volumes of environmental law, across all government jurisdictions, we see environmental degradation everywhere. Town planning in most of our communities is a total mess and our consumption and use of disposable and environmentally harmful products is at an all time high.
Our environmental laws are inequitable, serving to slow the building of critical infrastructure and the responsible and productive management of agricultural land, whist allowing unscrupulous developers free-rein to fell trees and devastate vast tracts of land for hot and ugly treeless suburbs, or for the government to build things like environmentally damaging wind and solar farms with impunity.
We need a better approach.
Some of my ideas for protecting the Australian environment are:
Reducing where we can, all forms of pollution on the land, in the sea and in the air;
Better planning, which includes more provision for green space, both within, and between areas of development;
Accommodating the creation of man-made wildlife habitats (like dams and forests) to counter-balance man-made development and to protect the species ;
Allowing unrestricted access for the people - to areas of our natural environment under both crown and native title, as well as to our National Parks. If you want people to love the environment, you've got to allow them to experience it, and our natural environment should therefore be available freely to everyone!;
Encouraging personal responsibility for the 'little things' that affect the environment, like not buying things wrapped in heavy plastic from the major supermarkets, maintaining your car, and not chucking the KFC packets out the window!;
Finally, I believe that one of the best things we can do to support our living environment is to support a strong economy, because only a with a strong and stable economy, do the people of a country have the luxury of enjoying an environmental conscience, and the resources to make lasting and effective change.
Government
Government should stick to its core business
GOVERNMENT OVERREACH
I believe Australian parliamentary governments at all levels, and their bureaucracy, have pushed too far beyond their remit, and too far into our everyday lives.
Here are some of my thoughts...
I believe Government action in creating rules should be restrained.
I believe that parliamentary government and its bureaucracy should stick to the core business of building and maintaining the infrastructure needed for a successful and sustainable society. It should also provide for our foreign diplomacy and defence, the prevention of serious crime, the provision of excellent health care, sensible protection of the environment, and the important welfare safety nets we expect for our citizens in times of need
... but otherwise, as much as much as is possible, it should get out of our way!
I believe in the dignity and freedom of the individual to live, prosper and enjoy their lives without the pervasive control of government.
Government should stop trying to control the way the people think, and it should devote itself to removing unnecessary law, and all other unfair or burdensome impediments to the freedom, productivity and happiness of the people.
We need governments to stop measuring themselves by how much new law they create, and instead look to what they have built for us and how happy and prosperous their people are.
An impossible dream perhaps...but don't forget... it is us who choose those governments.
Infrastructure
We need to get serious about nation building
INFRUSTRUCTURE
Our national infrastructure is crumbling.
Government sell-outs, lack of vision, and extraordinary wastage have all contributed to the appalling state of our national infrastructure.
Our national highways are potholed and congested, we don't build adequate new rail capacity, we've given up our airports and seaports to foreign investors and developers, our sovereign energy production plants have been left dilapidated, we seem incapable of building new dams to secure water supplies for our growing population, our telecommunications and internet grids are inadequate, and the list goes on.
Infrastructure should be the core business of government, and yet in almost every respect Australian governments are failing to provide even close to acceptable infrastructure standards, and they seem to have no clear vision for the future, beyond studies, inquiries and consultants. Our rapidly rising population is compounding the infrastructure problem, and it is now beyond crisis point.
I believe we need a new national approach to address the infrastructure crisis in Australia.
As well as boosting productivity, reducing pollution, and making the people's lives easier, creating and supporting great infrastructure creates jobs, boosts our export potential, addresses the key concerns of the immigration issue, and it supports the future prosperity of our country.
Creating and supporting great infrastructure is the best nation building thing we can do, and we've got to get going on it right now!
Foreign Affairs
Australia needs to assert its sovereignty in international affairs.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Australia has always tried to do the right thing for the world.
We have a wonderful record of support for the United Nations, we are a loyal and devoted friend to our allies and we are a good neighbour to our region.
But I think for too long now, Australia's morality and generosity has been taken advantage of by the rest of the world.
We've accepted this (knowingly or not) for years now - and perhaps that's just another indication of our Aussie spirit of friendship and internationalism - but enough is enough!
I think Australia must continue to be a responsible global citizen, but that we must stop doing so at the expense of our own country, our own people, and most of all our sovereignty.
I believe Australia must restore sovereign control over its foreign policy, energy security, and its defence.
We should avoid taking sides in foreign disputes, and instead use our unique position and our skills to assist with international diplomacy and mediation, and where necessary - peacekeeping, to do our bit for the security of the world.
But while doing this, we need to respect ourselves, and stop being a 'patsy' to foreign interests who only use Australia as a pawn to achieve their own international geopolitical, economic, and hegemonic aims.
We should avoid entering into alliances which compromise our sovereignty, and we should avoid making international deals in circumstances where we always seem to pay too much while getting so little in return.
We need keep being a responsible global citizen, but the time has come for us to look after Australia too.
Defence
Self-reliance for a nation worth defending
DEFENCE
Australia has never really grown up and taken responsibility for its own security.
I believe it is time for this to end...
Relying upon others for our defence will always compromise our sovereignty and independence of action in foreign affairs, and this cannot be allowed to continue.
Defence self-reliance for Australia is achievable, and I believe it should be a national priority.
To get there, we must begin with a wholesale shift in our collective national mindset.
...We must learn to back ourselves!
We need to spend more on defence, but also more carefully. We cannot continue to waste huge amounts of tax payer money on bad equipment or bad deals.
We also need to remain in control of all our defence technology, wherever it comes from, or again - we will continue to compromise our sovereignty.
Defence recruitment and retention is in crisis, but foreign mercenaries and / or more money is not the answer. We need to make our defence servicemen and women proud again, and give them an Australia worth fighting for!
Finally, all defence policy is pointless unless we address what should be considered a national emergency - our critical lack of fuel security!...but that's another story!
The Arts
Art and culture should flourish in a free society
THE ARTS
Art and culture are so important to the fabric of civilised society.
Many of our beloved forms of Australian art seem to be disappearing.
Art is supposed to test us, challenge our thinking and our consciousness, and yes - sometimes even offend us.
If we become too precious about protecting people from insecurities and we don't encourage free and sometimes radically free thinking, how can ever hope to find good artists and be rewarded with their vibrant creativity?
I believe that by freeing up our thinking and opening ourselves to new ideas instead of the boring narrative we were taught by someone else (and allowing others to enjoy that freedom too), is a good way to start a resurgence in Australian art.
I also believe in opening up our public spaces to creative art, bringing live music back into pubs and encouraging local recording and publishing.
When we see good Australian art in any form which moves us, we should support it fully and generously, and share it with each other.
Social media platforms like TikTok have actually been a surprising new medium for art, and these spaces seem to be carrying the creative torch for the industry at the moment.
We should not be trying to restrict them.
YOUR IDEAS
Well thanks for reading.
These are just some of the issues I'm interested in and I hope you are too.
As always, my ideas and therefore my representations if elected - will continue to be informed by you.
So please don't forget to share your thoughts and ideas with me too, by clicking the link below!