Paul Bachelor of Echuca is the Family First Party candidate for the federal Nicholls electorate.
He has lived locally for 45 years and has a background in electrical engineering, education, including at local high schools, and corporate training.
Now retired, Mr Bachelor has six children and 12 grandchildren with his wife, Barbara, a celebrated nurse.
Mr Bachelor said he was running for the Nicholls electorate partly because he was asked to, but also due to his strong alignment with the Family First Party’s values.
“On many issues, such as abortion and gender ideology stuff, we’ve watched both of the major parties move in a direction which we find quite distasteful,” he said.
“We think it’s horrendous, the implications for young children.”
In Nicholls, Mr Bachelor sees crime as one of the largest issues facing the region, which he attributes to the closure of technical schools in Victoria.
“We’ve got groups of young people that used to go through technical school, learn skills, learn a trade and get into meaningful employment. There’s a huge gap there now,” he said.
Current water policy and the increase in renewable energy projects on productive land are also among Mr Bachelor’s concerns for the electorate.
Of Campaspe Shire Council’s advocacy priorities, Mr Bachelor said he supported compensation for damage done by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
He also believes in pursuing nuclear energy, citing its safety in comparison to other forms of energy, and keeping families together in order to free up housing stock.
“We need to really assess what we are putting money to,” Mr Bachelor said.
“Health is one of those things that is growing and growing, because we don’t do what’s required to keep people healthy in the first place.”
Ultimately, Mr Bachelor would like to see more funding put towards family structures and youth programs to support community autonomy, ideally leading to a reduction in government intervention.
“If we’re going to have a strong country, we need to have strong communities. In order to have strong communities, you need strong families,” he said.
To stay up to date on election day, check in on the Riv website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls as well as live poll updates.
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