THE NSW election cycle has reached its inevitable zenith this week with party candidates and would-be Premiers pitching their “promises” to voters.
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Among this crowded space stands a group of Independent candidates, "not out making promises they never intend to keep, not seeking to win over popular approval with stunts and gimmicks".
A group of genuine Independents have come together to take the electoral battle right up to the major parties and play them at their own game.
These Independents have even arrived at the “Holy Grail” of ballot paper proportions - a Group Voting Square.
Much is said about the impossibility of singular Independent candidates not having a whisper of a chance in the modern electoral systems.
Parties can out-spend, dominate and generally starve even the best Independent out of public awareness.
Yet one group has caught the parties by surprise and now appears on the “table-cloth ballot” for the NSW Upper House at Group P.
Group P is simply the letter assigned to the group via the ballot draw conducted at the start of the voting calendar.
Not dismayed by the result of the draw, the group of 15 Independents, headed by Andrew Thaler of Nimmitabel, has embraced the letter and adopted the letter P into their message.
Reflecting Positively, “P” relates rather amicably with People, Partnerships, Power, Passion and IndePendent.
“I am no Johnny-come-lately to this arena,” Mr Thaler said.
“I stood in the federal election of 2013 in the bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro and recorded a healthy 1.5 per cent of the vote.
“No mail-outs, no posters, no helpers at polling locations - all on my own.
“Even my wife was unable to help as me campaign as she delivered our third child in the final week of the campaign - a little girl.
“I was quoted often back in September 2013 saying ‘my campaign for the next election starts with this election’.
“I stand for renewable energy, I stand for the community, I lead by example.
“As owners of the 407kW Singleton Solar Farm and the 70kW Superdome Solar array, I choose to demonstrate the applications of renewable energy rather than blithely lobby for it.
“What better way to demonstrate the potential, the outcomes, the ‘power’ of renewable energy than by physically delivering the idea and practice what you preach?”
Mr Thaler is also developing another solar farm in his home town of Nimmitabel, which will incorporate a hybrid energy system comprising battery banks, wind generators and bio-oil fuelled generators powering directly into the grid and selling on the spot market.
“More broadly this election will hinge around two very emotional issues that are increasingly occupying the voting public minds - the sale, misleadingly claimed to be a ‘partial lease’ by the LNP, and coal seam gas (CSG),” Mr Thaler said.
“I say that both of these things represent a threat to our societal structure, as we presently know it.
“Both of these issues cannot be undone. We cannot go back if we are wrong on them.
“Please vote carefully, vote Independent,” he said.