He doesn’t live there, but Petrus Van Der Steen is stepping up to the election stage in Parkes for the third time. Having run in both the 2019 and 2022 elections, he is running again in 2025 as the chosen candidate for Trumpet of Patriots in the Parkes electorate.
Murrurundi-based father of four, and a professional musician by trade, when asked why he made the choice to enter politics, his answer was simple.
“I hate to be the whinger on the side lines – there are so many frustrated people about there who are just content to whine about their lives and how things are but they don’t want to do anything,” said Mr Van Der Steen.
“I’m very happy to have the opportunity to stand up for what I believe in and to make a difference.”
Trumpet of Patriots have campaigned thus far under the banner of ‘commonsense policies for Australia’. Many of their policies align with current American political ideologies including the implementation of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), moving away from international organisations like the WHO and UN, and focusing on localised manufacturing.
For Mr Van Der Steen, one of the most important principles behind this is freedom.
“I stand for the freedom of every person, so long as it doesn’t impact on others,” he said.
On a campaign video found on his Facebook profile, Mr Van Der Steen highlights key political areas of concern such as cost of living, housing shortage and affordability, sky rocketing energy prices and government waste.
When asked to elaborate on his feelings around government waste, Mr Van Der Steen said, “For me this is about focusing on Australia gaining some self-sufficiency again.”
“More Australian money needs to be spent on Australian soil; we need to reignite our manufacturing industry and start offering free education to our Australian students again.”
“What we’ve essentially seen over the last few decades is a devaluation of the Australian dollar, and Australian products and resources.”
He highlights the need to reposition farmers and primary producers as a key part of our economy.
“For Parkes, I think that the government’s abandonment of regional areas is our biggest concern,” he said.
“City people only seem to think about farmers when they run out of food.”
“Farmers should be one of our highest priority groups and at the moment they are strangled by legislation that gives them no rights on their own land.”
Mr Van Der Steen is also dedicated to seeing more accountability in politicians.
“Politics has ventured away from serving people and become too much about self-service,” he said.
“There needs to be higher consequences for those in office who are not providing what they promised – if they were running a company they’d be sacked and I don’t see why government should be any different.”
Mr Van Der Steen has four children, two boys and two girls, and says that he is immensely proud of all of them.
When asked how he feels that the youth can be better engaged in politics, he said, “They are engaged by honesty.”
“There is too much bovine faeces out there, that’s why they don’t listen anymore, and our education system is a big part of that.”
“We need to remove the indoctrination from our schools and encourage our kids to form their own opinions.”
Mr Van Der Steen has not yet engaged in any of the public debates and says he does not intend to.
“Debating is over, its’ time for action and I have no interest in mudslinging.”
“As an entertainer, I have worked in pubs and clubs all across the New England region and I can tell you, what people say over a drink is far more interesting than anything that gets said at an official public debate.”
“I would rather go out and speak to real people, it’s what I’ve always done and it’s what I’ll continue to do.”
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