SALE resident, hospitality worker and writer, Dean Barnes, is putting mental health services, drug law reform and support for neurodiverse people front and centre in his campaign to become an Upper House MP for Eastern Victoria under the Reason Party banner.
Mr Barnes said he had been a member of Reason Party (formerly Australian Sex Party) for 10 years.
“I joined because at the time, they were the first party to formulate a policy platform in favour of marriage equality,” Mr Barnes said.
“Upon joining, I discovered a deep connection to the remainder of the party’s evidence-based policy platform.
“After party leader Fiona Patten MP got elected in 2014, she immediately set about introducing important reforms and has done so in a collaborative and open-minded fashion. Fiona is an inspiration and hero to me.”
Mr Barnes moved to the Wellington Shire three years ago after a period living in Canberra, where he served on the executive of the Reason Party’s ACT branch.
A member of the LGBTIQA+ community and in his mid-30s, he decided to run after observing a growing progressive voice in regional Victoria.
Mr Barnes is running on three issues he cares about, the first being more mental health services for regional Victoria.
“The current services available are minimal, with enormous wait times and very little specialist care,” Mr Barnes said.
“This particularly affects young people and the LGBTIQA+ community in regional Victoria. It is also increasingly affecting older people as well.”
His second issue is support for neurodiverse people.
“ADHD, autism, etc, is becoming increasingly more prevalent and with the increase in diagnoses, there are more neurodivergent people being forced to navigate a neurotypical world,” he said.
Finally, Mr Barnes is advocating for drug law reform, saying that “with recreational drug use and addiction higher than the state average”, it was time to start to look at health-based solutions to Victoria’s drug laws.
Mr Barnes says the number one issue that is brought up with him is climate change.
“Almost everyone under the age of 40 that I speak to is deeply concerned by the climate emergency. It will be the issue that defines an entire generation,” he said.
Asked about his chances to win a seat in the Upper House, Mr Barnes said it was a hard question to answer and that “it’s important to be realistic”.
“We are a small party who up until recently have been quite city-centric. It takes a while to build a brand in regional areas and to earn the trust of voters,” he said.
“I would love to be elected, and while I think I may poll reasonably well, it’s going to be one of the most hotly contested elections in our lifetime and anything could happen.”
Mr Barnes said he never considered running for a lower house seat, such as Gippsland South. “In my opinion the Upper House is where the exciting stuff happens and where smaller parties such as Reason can really have a lot of legislative power,” he said.
He added that his thoughts were with those affected by the impending Saputo factory closure in Maffra.
“It’s always sad when a business is forced to close and jobs are lost,” Mr Barnes said.
“We are living in unprecedented times following the COVID-19 pandemic and I think we need to be providing more support for those left unemployed by the inevitable closures and reduction in productivity by these businesses who employ a lot of people within the community.
“We have enough people living in poverty; we don’t need more.”
