By Mikayla van Loon
Chirnside Park resident and veteran James Unkles will be running for the Upper House seat of the Eastern Victoria Region as the United Australia Party (UAP) candidate at this year’s election.
For 40 years Mr Unkles has lived in the Eastern Region but only now sees it as the right time to run for politics.
“I’ve got three children and six grandchildren. I’ve had a gut full of the way the state has been run by the Greens and Dan Andrews,” he said.
“I served in the ADF for nearly 40 years. I have excellent abilities, management skills and leadership skills, I want to use those for the benefit of the community.”
Growing up in a “politically aware” family, Mr Unkles said he was always interested in politics and he has had a career in analysing legislation as a military and civilian lawyer.
He was also formerly a member of the Liberal Party, which he has since resigned after not feeling like it was representative of the values he stood for.
While running for the UAP, Mr Unkles backs and supports the party’s policies however, he said as a candidate on the ground he’s not afraid to act independently if there’s something he strongly believes in.
“I have the backing and I support the policies of UAP….I do believe UAP has a future in Victoria and I want to be part of that future.”
As a defence force veteran, the welfare of returned service personnel is very close to Mr Unkles’ heart and is one of the focuses of his campaign, which is also a focus for the UAP.
“There’s no other party in Victoria running in the election, and there’s about 23 of them, that has a veterans platform. I’ve worked with veterans, I’m a veteran, I’ve worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs, veteran affairs ministers – I understand the mindset of veterans.”
Other items on his agenda include a moratorium on wind farm installations, a bill that makes the destruction of the Australian flag a criminal offence and lifting parking charges for patients and immediate family at hospitals.
Mr Unkles also wants a feasibility study into the use of nuclear power in Victoria, a moratorium on further drug injection rooms and to address conservation and environmental damage in the Gippsland region through excessive tourist developments.
After recent floods in the region, Mr Unkles would also like to see driving into flood waters be made a criminal offence.
“If I drive on the road, drink driving, I get stopped, I get fined, I lose my licence, I put people’s lives at risk.
“How’s that any different to putting the SES volunteers under stress, having to go to rescue people who have been told very clearly by the signage, the road is closed and flooded rivers and we’ve seen that here in the last few weeks.”
Aside from the policies and investigations Mr Unkles would like to conduct if elected in late November, he has four items he believes are challenging the Eastern Region the most, being power generation, wind farms, veterans and hospitals.
“We live in a first world country, our ambulances and hospitals are fourth world. It’s a disgrace the way those facilities have plummeted in eight years under Labor.”
With the Eastern Region extending from Mallacoota to Rosebud and out to Chirnside Park, it’s a large area to cover but Mr Unkles is not worried about representing such a broad region.
“I’m very resourceful. Having had a long history serving Commonwealth and state agencies, I’m also a practising and accredited mediator, I know how to work with people, put forward issues, and reach compromise.
“That’s been my bread and butter for my whole career. So although the Eastern Region is very large, if elected, I will make it my business to visit every single township in the Eastern Region, put up a listening post, and listen to people’s concerns.”
Mr Unkles’ intention is to only represent the Eastern Region for a single term if elected, not wanting to make a career out of politics.
“I promised the people of the Eastern Region [I’d do] one term, tick off the boxes of what I want to achieve and lay the groundwork and mentor someone to take my place. That’s my undertaking.”
