While Labor has all but abandoned the voters at both the federal and state levels.
Nationals member Sam Birrell is nice enough and certainly loves showing up to community events, but what has he done for the region for the past four years?
More importantly, what does a vote for Birrell and the Nationals mean for Nicholls?
A vote for Birrell is a vote for Peter Dutton. A racist, xenophobic person who spends more time trying to be a mini-Trump, playing people against each other in the lowest form of vote-grubbing, instead of working towards a better Australia for everyone.
Nicholls is a multicultural community. It has grown and prospered that way for over 80 years, building family and communities and enriching the fabric of this great region.
This vast region relies on skilled workers from overseas to work in our orchards and manufacturing industries and play a crucial role in our medical sector.
With this in mind, we want voters to look at their neighbours and co-workers and see what multicultural people bring to Nicholls and what voting for the Nationals and the Coalition will cost the community, which means another four years of no fundamental and assertive action in terms of bringing higher professional education for the youths closer to their homes and families, more and better healthcare opportunities and create more and equal employment opportunities for all.
It is time to move away from the two-party system.
It is time to shift our votes away from parties that take us for granted and ignore us by voting for a third party.
Only by making Nicholls a marginal seat will we see true growth in the region.
So this election, let us show Labor and the Coalition that Nicholls matters and should no longer be taken for granted by voting against the two-party system.
Dr Fayyaz Akhtar
President
Pakistani-Australian Association of Goulburn Valley Inc
