Council
30 August, 2024
Sea of orange for Dyson
HUNDREDS turned out in a sea of orange to celebrate independent candidate for Wannon Alex Dyson officially launching his campaign over the weekend.
The campaign launch, held at the Civic Green in Warrnambool on Saturday, was the largest yet for the third-time candidate who has pushed Wannon to be a marginal seat for the first time in over 60 years.
He was joined by guests including Warrnambool musician Didirri and independent MP Zoe Daniels, who accomplished what Mr Dyson hopes to do in 2022 when she was elected to the seat of Goldstein in a shock triumph over Liberal Tim Wilson.
Speaking with the Warrnambool Weekly at the campaign launch, Mr Dyson acknowledged the overwhelming display of support had left him in awe.
“It makes me emotional,” he said.
“It genuinely is touching because it takes trust for someone to put on a t-shirt with your name on it or put a corflute on their fence.
“It feels good knowing I can be there for that person and be their voice.
“I want to do a good job for them, so there’s both a certain amount of nervousness and eagerness to repay the faith they’ve shown in me.”
The 36-year-old candidate said the support shown from across the region had been the catalyst behind his decision to stand in the first place, with the attendance at the campaign launch over the weekend inspiring a new-found confidence in what the grassroots movement could achieve.
“People saw the positivity we were able to create, and the difference it makes when it comes to politicians taking this part of the world seriously,” he said.
“I’m a big advocate for doing what you can to help, and for me being a candidate is part of it.
“There’s so much more to a successful, grassroots campaign than the candidate – it’s the people flipping sausages, giving away t-shirts, dog bandanas, pumping out toasties, talking and getting the message out.
“I don’t want to let those people down when they’re doing all the hard work.”
Mr Dyson said he cared about his community and believed he could make a difference for Warrnambool and the western district.
A notable aspect of the candidacy for Mr Dyson was an insistence on running a positive campaign, centred on the optimism of what the region could be with representation unrestrained by party lines.
Early support has included disillusioned Labor and Liberal voters, who have expressed frustrations the former has not prioritised a region it is unlikely to win and the latter has not prioritised a region it has been unlikely to lose.
“It’s a case of how has it been going without an independent member?” Mr Dyson said.
“The Prime Ministers and Opposition Leaders never come to visit but Scott Morrison went to Bass in Tasmania three times at the last election.
“I think more people are willing to change their votes to show politicians that what we’re getting is not good enough, and we’re willing to shift.”
Mr Dyson said the marginal result at the last election had shown an independent winning Wannon was a real possibility, which had fuelled optimism in the early stages of this campaign.
“This time around we can definitely install an independent member and see if we can get a better deal, because currently the deal we’re getting is not great,” he said.
“I think people are just sick of voting the same way and hoping the politicians will get their act together – it doesn’t seem to be the most important way.”
Through his first campaign in 2019, Mr Dyson achieved a 10.39 per cent swing followed by a 9.64 per cent swing at the 2022 election; falling 3.9 per cent short of winning the seat - just 7933 votes.
At the next federal election, Mr Dyson is confident he can not only win but do so as a uniting candidate with confidence in securing a better deal for Wannon.
“We’re going for another 10 per cent swing,” he said.
“We only need four, but we’re going for another 10 and hoping to ride this wave of momentum.
“As we’ve seen in the faces of those who have come down, it’s all positive with a lot of faith and hope and I believe we can ride that until whenever the election is called.”
Mr Dyson announced plans to soon host listening posts across the region.
To learn more visit www.alexdysonindependent.com
