THE Greens party has entered the fray for the September federal election, yesterday announcing Warrnambool man Tim Emanuelle as its candidate for Wannon.
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Mr Emanuelle, 24, was born and raised in Warrnambool and has worked as a youth worker in the city.
The son of local high school teachers, Mr Emanuelle said better funding for education would be one of the issues he would pursue during his campaign.
He said he was concerned the federal Labor government had cut funding to universities while the state Liberals had done the same to TAFE.
Young people from country areas faced great financial hurdles to get a tertiary education, he said.
Providing more funding for regional universities and TAFE institutes would reduce the need, and financial cost, for youth in country areas to move to a metropolitan area to get a tertiary education. It would also reduce the negative effect of young people leaving rural communities, Mr Emanuelle said.
He backs the federal government’s Gonski school funding reforms but not its plan to partly fund them through cuts to university funding.
“Only the Greens will fund education properly and provide opportunities for all,” he said.
Mr Emanuelle said the Greens were a voice for a more caring society.
“I became a youth worker in Warrnambool because I care about our local community.
“I want to see a better deal for south-west Victoria.”
Mr Emanuelle said he joined the Greens at 18 and had supported the election campaigns of former Greens candidate Lisa Owens in the 2007 federal election and the 2008 Warrnambool City Council elections.
Concern about climate change, which he regarded as the biggest threat to Australia, had prompted him to join the party.
Australia needed to get more of its energy from renewable sources to reduce the impact of climate change, he said. Mr Emanuelle said he was proud of what the Greens had achieved in Parliament for renewable energy, stating the Greens’ clean energy bill had prompted $10 billion of investment in renewable energy such as wind farms.
Record government investment in dental care was another of the party’s achievements, he said.
“Because the Greens are in the Parliament, 3.4 million children will now have access to Medicare-funded dental care.”
On regional issues, Mr Emanuelle said the south-west needed better public transport.
“V/Line is under-resourced and often running late.
“Also, there’s not enough public transport between Warrnambool and the SA border.”
On the financial challenges facing the dairy industry, Mr Emanuelle said the Greens wanted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to be given more power to investigate any anti-competition behaviour by supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths.
