Tamworth mechanic and first-time candidate Brent Larkham is taking his bid for the seat of New England to the people, one town and one conversation at a time.
Larkham, running for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, says he’s no political insider—but that’s exactly the point.
“I’m a mechanic from Tamworth. “I’ve grown up in Tamworth, grown up in the New England area, and spent a lot of time travelling around here.”
He’s worked in businesses both locally and internationally, having spent years in Europe. That time abroad, he says, shaped his perspective.
“I saw a lot of terrible things happen. I’m just trying to stop those things from happening here in Australia.”
Larkham has been a One Nation member for around 18 months and was drawn to the party’s position.
“They’re sensible. One Nation has the very privileged position of being middle—you know, in the centre, slightly to the right,” he says.
“We can criticise both the major sides, left and right, and then offer them good policy or good suggestions of how to fix up a lot of the problems that we have at the moment.”
Among his chief concerns is the effect of government regulation on rural industries and the push towards net zero emissions.
“I’m very concerned about the direction that Australia is heading… with the net zero garbage that’s going on and with the damage it’s doing to our country and indeed to our area,” he says.
“Windmills, solar farms—a lot of this ridiculous stuff is really adversely affecting our economy. It’s messing up a lot of people in the meantime.”
Bureaucracy, too, is a target for the Tamworth local.
“The black tape, red tape, yellow tape, orange tape… all the rules and regulations that they’re bringing in,” he says.
“The bureaucracy is ruining farmers, it’s ruining mining, it’s ruining all the small businesses. They’re just finding it harder and harder to survive.”
He’s also interested in services, committing to doing what he can to help get the train line north of Armidale reopened.
With polling day fast approaching, Larkham says he’s had many conversations with locals who express loyalty to sitting MP Barnaby Joyce, but curiosity about alternatives.
“A lot of people have been coming up to me and saying, ‘We like Barnaby, but we’ll put you at number two.’ What I suggest to them is: I like Barnaby as well. I think he shares a lot of the One Nation values. Unfortunately, his party doesn’t.
His pitch is that a vote for him is a way to shake things up.
“Vote 1 for One Nation, a vote for Brent Larkham—ultimately my preferences will end up with Barnaby. So it’s a nice way to give him a bit of a shake-up as well,” he says.
“But give me your vote, and I will certainly be going into bat for the people of the New England.”
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