Hello, my name is Craig.
I want to improve the lives of everyday Australians, the heart and soul of our country, who the Coalition have increasingly neglected.
I’ve lived and worked in Maryborough as a chef for 27 years, preparing food for some of our community’s most vulnerable but deserving people. I’ve provided meals for people in aged care, the disability sector, early learning and childcare, and as a support worker for the disabled. Through my close contact with all of these people, I have realised how poorly they are being treated by government policies and practices.
The care of the vulnerable should never be privatised. But the Coalition government is more concerned with slashing taxes for the wealthiest than providing care, comfort, and security for the neediest.
The for-profit model of privatised aged care has seen the quality of care plummet. Staff cuts and penny-pinching have increased workloads, and growing casualisation means workers feel ever more insecure. Similar pressures are felt by the disabled in our communities, where proposed changes to the assessment system for disability support packages are causing great insecurity and fear.
Working with young children, I’m alarmed to see the government neglect of the vulnerable repeated in its mishandling of urgent issues that threaten the future of all Australians.
Meanwhile, the Coalition government’s unforgivable mishandling of the COVID pandemic has caused untold confusion, misery, fear and financial ruin.
The lack of a climate policy has made Australia a pariah nation, endangering the long-term future of our planet and causing economic uncertainty as international investors reject our fossil-fuel economy. Sadly, Australia has squandered the opportunity to be a world leader in renewable energy and green industries. Instead, we lag behind all other industrial nations.
Alarm bells are ringing but ignored as ordinary Australians demand urgent action on carbon emissions. People are calling for increased funding and effective policies in health, education, and social services. They want our public education, from school through TAFE to universities, supported. And, in the face of increasing financial stress, they want secure housing and rental accommodation to be affordable again so that everyone can share the Australian dream of a place to call home.
The Greens have fair, practical and costed policies in all these areas to build a better future for everyone by making corporations and billionaires pay their share.
That’s why I’m the proud and enthusiastic Greens candidate for Wide Bay.
Together, we’re unstoppable.