CAMPAIGNING in this same town where he attended school and received his drivers license as a teenager, Independent candidate for Wannon Alex Dyson has been busy greeting voters outside Warrnambool's Temperance Hall on election day.
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"The memories are flooding back, the canteen with the nibble pies and reuniting with childhood friends and their parents, it's been nice," he said.
"I've found it pretty good, it's my first time so everything is new to me, whether it's getting messages and chatting to people on Facebook about policy, handing out how to vote cards, meeting people out on the street, it's been a really cool experience.
"I was a bit sad that there wasn't a candidates forum, I think we're one of the only electorates that didn't have that. It would have been good to get into the same room together and talk politics.
"I'm very realistic about my chances, but you dare to dream. A lot of people have come up to me to say they're voting, but this is only one town in the electorate."
He placed his vote at his former primary school on Jamieson Street and bought a 50 cent bag of popcorn for old times' sake.
Much of his campaigning has been via online platforms like Facebook and Instagram, enlightening young people on policies and encouraging youth engagement in the political debate.
"It's about being myself, not taking myself seriously and being my authentic self," he said.
"I'm just trying to change it up from the quite stage-managed side of politics that we seem to see a fair bit of lately.
"I really want to be the kind of politician who makes decisions based on logic and listening to experts."
He finished off the interview with a dance move encapsulating the day, in true Ratdog fashion.
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