SHASHI Bhatti is standing as the Labor candidate for Gippsland, and is a very proud and passionate Gippslander, having settled in Morwell after immigrating from India in 1989.
Mr Bhatti grew up on a farm in India, and his family had strong values in education, health, community leadership, and employment.
He attended Monash Gippsland, majoring in accounting.
For the past 16 years he has worked as a senior accountant in Traralgon.
Mr Bhatti values the opportunities and education he enjoyed in Gippsland, and sees this access to education as an essential provision regional people need.
He understands the financial difficulty all the country students and parents face to send their children to study away from home, as two of his three sons are at Monash University’s Clayton campus.
He enjoys living in Gippsland, which has the best land for dairy and beef cattle, one of the best wineries, as well as coal, natural gas, and oil.
Mr Bhatti has committed to the Labor Party for years, and supports the ALP’s 100 Positive Policies, prioritising education, health, regional jobs, and ending domestic violence.
He believes Murray Goulburn, Fonterra and Barnaby Joyce also let down our farmers, and will work with Bill Shorten to set a minimum milk price for the farmers, the same as Fair Work protects low wage earners.
Australia cannot afford multinationals controlling our farmers like dictators.
He will continuously advocate to buy locally produced goods and protect local industries, like APM.
We all need to buy Australian-made paper, including the government, so we can protect 900-plus jobs in the Latrobe Valley and keep the local economy strong.
The Labor Party is committed to 50 per cent of the nation’s electricity being sourced from renewable energy by 2030, but before transition from coal fired power stations, he will make sure all Latrobe Valley jobs are protected.
Shashi Bhatti is committed to the Labor Party as candidate for Gippsland, and will listen to and work with communities, and the local, state, and federal governments, to make sure Gippslanders get their fair share of funding for future opportunities.
AUSTRALIAN Christians’ policies combine to focus on fighting for family values, protecting the vulnerable in our community and defending our freedoms that have been slipping away, such as freedom of speech and conscience.
We aim to protect the beauty of our great outdoors, encourage creativity and entrepreneurialism, and keep our economy vibrant.
Gippsland’s mountains, beaches and countryside combine to make it one of the most beautiful places to live on the planet.
The diverse range of industry: mining and power production; farming; fishing; tourism; and so much more, make Gippsland a promising place to live and raise a family.
However, my main decision to run in Gippsland was based on the current member’s betrayal of families by reversing his decision, mid term, to defend marriage.
This after being voted in with promises to defend true marriage.
This decision appears to be a capitulation to whichever way the member assumed the wind would blow on this issue.
It is this style of politics that have left many Australians disillusioned with their government and the people of Gippsland deserve better.
I aim to be an honest values-based representative with a heart to truly represent the people of Gippsland.
I will always support life, family and true marriage.
I will defend our kids against propaganda fuelled education programs infecting students minds with queer gender theory, whilst I will promote genuine anti-bullying programs.
I will always support freedom of speech and conscience.
I won’t be swayed by trendy bandwagon issues or noisy minorities to the expense of real people and real issues.
I will push for a future of healthy families, a clean environment and a flourishing economy.
I want the region to be a place offering a work and lifestyle balance, where people are proud to put down their roots.
I WAS born very young, had an average life, bla bla bla. Who cares.
The reason I jumped into this election is because of the Safe Schools program.
It was a friend of ours who has been bullied by the Safe Schools program as well as the education department.
She called them to find out what the curriculum for the program was.
She was told she was homophobic and they hung up on her.
She assumed that the program was something to do with homosexuality, she struggled to find more information.
The alarm bells kept going off as they called her a radical Christian and continued their bullying.
She is not a Christian, she is a parent concerned about her child’s education.
Then she read that this program had links to pornography.
She realized that something devious is being done to our children.
She called her school and requested that her child not participate in the programs.
The teachers informed her that it was compulsory and she had no choice.
She has removed her child from that school.
The federal parliament stopped the funding of the program. Then the state governments reinstated the program and took up the funding themselves.
So I propose that we the parents press for an investigation into the links of these politicians and education board. We also need some investigation to see where this dangerous program came from.
Save the children. Vote Rise Up Australia.
CHERIE was born and raised in Bairnsdale, and is completing a Bachelor of Arts with a major in history and politics.
She has travelled throughout the world and knows that there is no view that beats the lookout at Lakes Entrance.
Cherie believes that Gippsland needs a representative loyal to Gippslanders and not a political party.
As an independent, Cherie wants Gippslanders to have the ability to operate their businesses in a global market and understands that this requires better tax rates and an NBN that is ‘future proof’.
Cherie believes in the need for comprehensive tax reform which addresses all areas of taxation, not just superannuation, not just negative gearing, and not just business tax rates.
As an independent Cherie understands Gippsland is unique and what matters to Gippslanders cannot be boxed into the policies of the Liberal/National Party, Labor, the Greens or any other party.
Cherie believes in protecting medicare because quality health care should be available in all areas not just the cities, and be available to everyone not just the rich.
As an independent Cherie is able to put Gippsland first because her loyalty is to the people of Gippsland, not a political party. Cherie believes Gippsland’s federal representative should protect Gippsland by rejecting legislation that makes it easier for onshore gas mining to be approved.
“A vote for me will see the value of your vote go beyond the polling booth,” she said.
“As an independent, every vote I make in parliament will be made for Gippsland because my loyalty is to the people of Gippsland, not a political party.”
The Gippsland Times publishes these candidate profiles as a service to the electorate of Gippsland.
Candidates for the seat of Gippsland were invited to submit about 300 words outlining their main policies and what they offered the voters.
