G'day, I am James Jackson, the Liberal Democrats candidate for Macquarie.
I am here to convince you that the major parties have both failed you. They've failed also their own founding principles in favour of keeping or getting political power at any cost.
But there is a competent and principled alternative - The Liberal Democrats.
I believe that the state and federal government's COVID responses were disproportionate to the risk our nation faced. It's not that they don't care, I am sure they do - it is that both major parties are protective to a fault, sacrificing higher principles like equality, bodily autonomy, freedom of assembly, free speech and truth at its altar. They delivered fear and division, not hope and trust to Australia.
If 2020 and 2021 become known as the years that we lost our freedom then I hope that 2022 is known as the year we took those freedoms back. They were never any governments to take. Australia needed an open debate and instead we got mandates. Mandates, fines, massive economic and social dislocation and the accumulation of record amounts of debt.
It didn't have to be this way - force and fear kill flourishing and freedom. And there is no freedom without the freedom to choose.
Send a message: This May, I ask that you vote the major parties last and vote 1 for a freedom friendly minor party.
For decades the Liberal Democrats have been the true liberal party with sensible solutions to claw back big government overreach. I commend to you the LibDems Freedom Manifesto - 10 practical policies for Australia's return to a flourishing liberal democracy - details at jamesjacksonldp.com.au and ldp.org.au/freedom.
If you are dissatisfied with the major parties, don't expect anything to change unless you send them a clear message through your vote on May 21.
Mr Jackson is a father of two schooled in The Hills area. Post grad at Royal Melbourne (RMIT). First job in North Parramatta and Carlingford ... would you like fries with that? First pay cheque $12.60.
Second Parramatta Scout so hiked across the Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains.
He played baseball and soccer for Baulkham Hills. His baseball coach owned the Bird in Hand Inn at Pitt Town where friends would gather when not water-skiing.
His post burger flipping career was in banking tech - which started with 5.25" floppy disks and 1200bps modems but led ultimately to becoming a managing director at the oldest bank in America and running their Asia Pacific client technology team from Singapore.
"I had more than a bit of luck and was fortunate enough to see the world! Seeing the world gives one a special appreciation for what we have in Australia and especially the exquisite beauty of the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury.
"I discovered what has become my beautiful home of Tennyson in 2016, surrounded by wildlife... I volunteer with Tennyson Rural Fire Service and at a peer support, suicide prevention group for parents alienated from their children - Parents Beyond Breakup, with our online and in-person groups, Mums-in-Distress, Dads-In-Distress and Grandparents-in-Distress."
He believes the biggest issue to face Macquarie will be balancing the needs of people against the limitations of our environment.
"The cost of living in Macquarie is accelerating unsustainably. Energy, including petrol, is too expensive. The LDP have always advocated for scrapping the excise on petrol (not just a six-month holiday!) as it is a handbrake on business competitiveness - as is the cost of electricity."
The LDP stands for ending all government energy subsidy that distorts the free market. Nuclear, with passive built-in safety features and low emissions, should be allowed to compete side by side with other energy types and the consumer allowed to choose on price, reliability and preference.
Cost of living and for business has also risen in Macquarie with rents. Government debt (analogous to money printing) has seen house and land prices grow beyond the reach of those who did not already own property. Long term locals are being forced out. More government debt will only bring more inflation and further devalue our retirement nest-eggs. A balanced budget and protection of the purchasing power of our dollar will ease the upward pressure on property prices - to not do so is to saddle our children with the responsibility to repay our debts and also sell-out the environment.
Economic growth, as would be required to paydown Australia's debt, has a linear link with oil used in plastics and in logistics - there can be no clean, green future without getting the economic fundamentals right and producing more than we consume.
For Macquarie, with its unique environment, it needs to be progress with preservation.
"I joined the LibDems five years ago. I was attracted to the LDP as the only party that stands by its principles that champion individual liberty and responsibility. We will never vote for an increase in taxes or a reduction in liberty."
