Sam Farraway speaks for the first time after being unveiled as the new Nationals candidate for Calare

Transcript

00:00But over the weekend, members of the National Party from across the Calera electorate met

00:04here in Orange to pre-select, endorse and support the candidate for the upcoming federal

00:11election.

00:12I'm incredibly humbled to have received the members' support and their endorsement at

00:17that meeting and for me, today, the campaign starts.

00:22Over the past few months, I've been able to engage with and speak with members from right

00:27across the Central West.

00:29What people in our region have been telling me is their sheer frustration with government,

00:36with the lack of representation here in the Central West.

00:41And that has led me to believe that the best way I can serve the good people of Calera

00:47and the Central West is to be their federal MP.

00:51Now to do that, I'm going to have key priorities for our region.

00:55Number one has to be to get the Great Western Highway back on track.

01:00This region, no matter where you live in the fantastic Central West, this region will never

01:05ever be able to realise its full potential until we have a decent highway over the mountains

01:12providing that connectivity between the city and the bush.

01:16We must look at zero emission nuclear energy that will deliver 24-7 power for all our homes

01:24and businesses across the region, but also deliver opportunities, real opportunities

01:30for Lithgow and the Central West to be the engine room of regional New South Wales.

01:36To deliver real economic opportunity, job opportunity, whether it be advanced manufacturing

01:43across this region.

01:44Thirdly, we need to make sure that our farmers are front and centre.

01:49We have seen the nationals in Canberra fight off this Labor government trying to impose

01:54a biosecurity levy on our farmers in this country that would only advantage farmers

02:00importing goods into this country.

02:04Secondly, we must remove the live sheep export ban.

02:08It is only a matter of time before Labor with the Greens go down this path to try and ban

02:14live cattle exports as well.

02:16We must resist this, we must stop this, and in government the nationals must reverse the

02:21live sheep export ban because it will have dire consequences for our eastern markets

02:27and livestock exchanges right across the Central West, but right across the eastern seaboard

02:32of this country.

02:33It is absolutely imperative that we support small business also.

02:38We must remove the red tape, we must support them and not hinder them.

02:43And we must deliver on that commitment to our small businesses which is the engine room

02:48of this economy.

02:50Now there's lots of other issues that people are talking to me about, phone connectivity,

02:54about the cost of living crisis and what we can do if the nationals are returned to government.

03:00But what has been a stark reality for me is that only a nationals MP fighting for this

03:07region sitting at the table in Canberra can deliver on any of these priorities, on any

03:13of the big issues that we need for this region to be able to reach our full potential for

03:19the future.