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Quirindi farmer and Greens Party by-election candidate Peter Wills met with local supporters at the Tenterfield Bowling Club on Saturday, November 25 on a campaign tour through the New England electorate.
Mr Wills is positioning himself as a link between Greens supporters and agricultural communities, being known as a staunch activist in the long campaigns against the Shenhua coal project, BHP Caroona mine, and against Santos CSG projects in the Pilliga. A CSG exploration licence covers the family farm.
Mr Wills said the Greens campaign will focus on protecting land and water from unwanted and unnecessary coal mines and CSG wells development into the region, and helping workers transition to sustainable jobs in the renewable energy economy.
He considers the extensively-mined and scarred Hunter Valley to be a warning to New England voters of what is in store if current government and opposition policies continue.
"New England voters have a clear choice in this election he said.
“They can vote for the coal parties, or vote Greens to save agricultural land, water, and native Australian habitats.”
Like most farmers, Mr Wills is up-front about the fact that politics isn't something he ever planned to get involved in, but he found the threats to land and water too pressing to ignore.
"My father worked this land until the very day he passed away, his last job fixing a leaking water trough. I and the community can’t and won’t sit by while Government want to risk our most precious resource, water, for the sake of coal and CSG."
Also on Mr Wills’ agenda for New England are fairness in schools and TAFE funding, and justice for Aboriginal communities and refugees.