From the northern reaches of Farrer, Narrandera local David Farley has entered the by-election race as the Pauline Hanson’s One Nation candidate.
Mr Farley comes from a family with a strong tradition of service, being the grandson of a returned light horseman and the son of a returned navy serviceman.
His career in agriculture and agribusiness has taken him across the Riverina and internationally, where he has built irrigation enterprises and managed large-scale cattle and cotton operations.
Now, he is turning his attention to the electorate he has called home all his life to represent its residents.
“I've managed large enterprises in this electorate and watched them get destroyed by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Thriving communities, gone,” he said.
“I'm here to change the narrative and fight for a better water deal, better health outcomes and a secure fuel supply.”
Mr Farley identified water as the electorate’s most pressing issue, arguing the basin plan cost about $4.2 billion a year to run — a figure he said was equivalent to running four major hospitals annually.
He believes the plan was “destroying the irrigation farming industry that built this region”.
He also flagged health care as another key concern, saying essential service infrastructure including hospitals, aged care and childcare was “crumbling”.
Mr Farley said he believed the strength of Australia was in its rural communities, which depended on reliable water and a stable baseload power supply.
He argued that getting those fundamentals right would help address a range of broader challenges such as the cost of living, fuel security and education.
With Farrer spanning more than 126,000 square kilometres, Mr Farley said One Nation was the only party with the structure to deliver for the region.
“Only One Nation has the party structure to actually deliver,” he said.
“We have senators who can use their votes on legislation to extract real concessions on regional services, hospitals, aged care and education.
“One Nation already has runs on the board for forcing the government into the banking royal commission. An independent can't do that.”
25°C