Mayor enters election to fight for rural towns

Because he believes local voters should have a choice.

‘‘The Nationals are supposed to be for the bush but looking around, I’m not too sure they are. (They) have taken voters for granted for years and are letting our communities fall behind,’’ he said.

‘‘I am standing in this election to fight for a better public health system, for quality education and to protect our water from the Nationals’ destructive mismanagement.

‘‘I will stand up for rural and regional towns like ours and be a strong voice for our region.’’

Alan has a long history in local government, serving the community of Balranald as a councillor for more than 30 years, including a number of stints as mayor and deputy mayor.

Alan and his wife raised their daughter in Balranald, running his family’s newsagency for more than 40 years before retiring recently.

Through his work in council and the local family business, Alan has rubbed shoulders with locals almost every day and quickly gotten a feel for the issues in the region.

‘‘I see everyone, talk to everyone and hear the needs of the community,’’ he said.

‘‘There have been so many disappointments in the past 20 years and I just want to do what I can to help.’’

Alan only discovered he was the Labor candidate a couple weeks ago when the initial candidate for Murray dropped out.

And while everything has moved at a dizzying pace since then, he’s still determined to give this election a shot.

‘‘I am running because Country Labor is the only viable party to save our water,’’ he said.

‘‘Labor will hold a Special Commission of Inquiry into the water mismanagement along the Murray-Darling basin. Could you imagine the uproar if Sydney Harbour dried up like our rivers?

‘‘I’ve been here a long time, I’ve seen a lot of problems and I understand them. And while we can’t make it rain, we can try to alleviate some of the suffering of farmers.’’