Announcing the official launch of his campaign in Tatura yesterday, Mr Bock said he had learned water was the most important issue in the electorate as well as his weakest policy area after running in the previous federal election.
‘‘I’ve spent the last three years running around the whole basin ... attending meetings and meeting with different stakeholders,’’ he said.
‘‘Because if I’m successful I need to know what the issues are in the other areas and what the arguments are so that I can tailor my argument to positively affect the whole region.’’
Mr Bock said high water prices for the electorate would be his number one priority during his campaign, which he could only run after presenting the Australian Electoral Commission with 100 signatures in his support.
‘‘My real concern is that our strength — the irrigation and dairy industry of the region — is, with the high water price, becoming a weakness,’’ he said.
‘‘If the dairy industry and the orchard industry falls over, the processors fall over ... so we’re sort of feeling a little bit precarious at the moment.’’
Mr Bock said he would also focus on the areas of mental health, telecommunications and getting electricity prices and pollution levels down.
‘‘A lot of people are bringing up mental health issues; not only because of the stress caused by high water prices, but existing issues like depression, anxiety, bipolar and that sort of thing,’’ he said.
He also highlighted the issues with telecommunications in the electorate.
‘‘Our telecommunications are not up to scratch,’’ Mr Bock said.
‘‘The NBN is just not what we were promised.
‘‘It’s a real safety issue in terms of black spots; if you’re trying to call 000 because there’s been a road trauma ... and you can’t get through ... those are vital minutes that could be saving somebody’s life.’’
While Mr Bock did not reveal his stance on climate change, he said he aimed to reduce electricity prices and pollution levels.
‘‘Whether you agree with climate change or not, why do we want to be breathing air that’s more polluted than necessary?’’ he said.
Running against current Member for Murray Damian Drum, Mr Bock said running as an independent candidate ensured he only had the electorate in mind.
‘‘The trouble that Damian Drum has is... he has two constituencies,’’ he said.
‘‘He’s both representing our region and he’s representing the National party.
‘‘Most of the National party’s MPs and senators are from Queensland and the issues up there and the culture up there is very different to what it is down here.
‘‘I think it’s not necessarily a vote against Drummy, but a vote in favour of a local representative who only has one constituency and that’s the people of the Goulburn-Murray region.’’
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