Cooma-Monaro Mayor Dean Lynch won’t be stepping down from his local government role if successful in his bid for a federal seat in September.
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The newly announced Palmer United Party candidate will be challenging Labor politician Mike Kelly for the crucial seat of Eden-Monaro in the upcoming federal election, but isn’t concerned about taking on too much responsibility.
“I see this as an extension of being a mayor,” he said.
“Being a mayor, I deal with a lot of politicians. I haven’t been happy for a long period of time. It was been a long time coming.”
The fifth generation cattle farmer said politicians were yet to address “what needs to be done” in the regions, adding that he would focus on issues such as infrastructure and wealth creation in regional and rural areas.
He said a significant proportion of profits from organisations such as the Snowy Hydro and Kosciuszko National Park should be going back into the local community.
“I truly believe the major parties don’t get the whole regional aspect,” he said.
“We’ve been hard done by.”
Mr Lynch was announced as the Palmer United Party's 11th candidate for NSW by Mr Palmer on Sunday, when the billionaire described him as a driving force in the region and a “great advance” for his party.
“Australians are sick of the current political professional politicians that have been in Canberra for about 30 years,” Mr Palmer said.
“If you cook a stew for about 30 years, you know what rises to the top and that's what's happened here.”
The billionaire businessman has now endorsed more than 40 candidates in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. He plans to field candidates in all 150 House of Representative Seats and a Senate team in each state and territory.
Candidates for Canberra are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
- with AAP