WOAH!
Former ‘Australian Idol’ host James Mathison has announced that he’ll be standing as an independent candidate for the seat of Warringah – currently held by Tony Abbott.
The 38-year-old television personality was arrested earlier this month for protesting the removal of Moreton Bay Fig Trees along Anzac Parade in Sydney.
James Mathison is dragged away from tree #protest after trying to #savesydneystrees on #Anzac parade @photosSMH @smh pic.twitter.com/fnYLn9MduD
— Janie Barrett (@janie_barrett) May 2, 2016
The vocal environmentalist and social justice activist has gone with the slogan ‘Our Chance for A Change‘, and will be primarily using social media to advertise his campaign, which will include the hashtag #TimesUpTony.
Mathison says there’s ‘disdain’ for Abbott in his current electorate, and that Abbott’s divisive stances on marriage equality, refuges and climate change don’t reflect the ‘caring and compassionate’ nature of Warringah.
He spoke to The Daily Telegraph about his campaign:
“People here don’t overly trust Labor but they can’t stand Tony, so what do they do? They just sleepwalk into the polling booth and do what they’ve always done.We’re asking them to think ‘what if there was another option? What if there was an alternative to those three?’ Someone who grew up in the community, lives in the community and is prepared to listen to your needs and not just jet around the country, jet around the world and promote their own agenda?”
Again from The Daily Telegraph, here’s some of James Mathison’s ‘manifesto’:Tony Abbott:“He creates this sense that ‘you’re either with me or against me.’ He doesn’t go ‘I’m going to try and bring the community along with me.’ You’re either with us or against us and that’s really divisive across the board.”Marriage Equality:“I think marriage equality is so important. It tells the world what sort of nation we are. Are we accepting? Are we tolerant? And we definitely are. We don’t need a plebiscite, we don’t need a conscience vote, we just need a bit of political backbone.”Asylum Seekers:“You can turn back the boats, you can stop them from coming, but the people who are locked up, you have to treat like humans and we haven’t done that … making sure the people who are locked up aren’t treated like animals is the final piece in that policy puzzle.”
Think Mathison is crazy for even considering contesting Abbott’s seat of Warringah?
“Maybe that is crazy, maybe it’s crazy to think you can win a safe seat like this, but I think it’s even crazier to reward someone who has just not delivered for the community and has deceived the nation over and over and over again.”
So, there ya go. If you wanna keep an eye on Australia’s newest pollie, James Mathison will be using his social media accounts (his Twitter is here) to talk about his policies with video messages.
Source: The Daily Telegraph.
