¶ NATIONALS candidate for O’Connor Heidi Tempra wants stronger representation for country people at a federal level.
Mrs Tempra, who has lived and worked as a teacher in Manjimup for 30 years, said she put her hand up to run for the seat after becoming disillusioned with the way the state and federal governments treat people in regional and rural areas.
She said increasing green tape for farmers, the shutting down of live sheep exports and the end of native timber logging in Manjimup have hit people in O’Connor hard.
“I love regional towns and centres,” she said.
“They’re the fabric of what it means to be Australian, but they’re constantly being short-changed and just keep on taking the hits. Our industries are being attacked. I keep thinking, if these are the industries being targeted - what next? 
“If we don’t start pushing back what’s next on the agenda?”
Mrs Tempra said people within the electorate have been reaching out to her following the announcement of her candidacy, with the cost of living frequently cited as a key concern.
“Country people have always had a cost-of-living issue,” she said.
“We always pay more for goods and services, just because of distance, we always have to travel to get to services.
“When metro people start saying there’s a problem with cost of living, double and triple that for the country.”
In the lead up to the May 3 election, Mrs Tempra will cover as much of the electorate as possible, talking with voters about their concerns.
She was in Collie earlier this week, meeting with residents and local businesses, talking about issues including the Just Transition and nuclear energy.
She told the Bulletin she is “definitely not anti-nuclear”.
“I think we realistically need to see what is going to work,” she said.
“I do think we need to look at renewables, but it’s not realistic to go to 100 percent renewables.
“When people propose that I think they’re ignoring all of the problems that exist in getting to that point.”