People will hit the polling booths in May. At Mackay and Whitsunday Life, we want you to know about the policies of this year’s federal candidates, commencing with our Political Life Column next week.
To kick off proceedings, we invited Shane Hamilton, Labor’s candidate for Dawson, to share with our readers why he put his hand up for politics and where he stands on mining, manufacturing and sugar.
Born in Mackay, Mr Hamilton has a wide breadth of understanding for the region as a whole. He grew up in Sarina and played rugby league for the Crocodiles until he was 19, having to give the sport a rest due to injury. Now, he coaches his son’s U6 Magpies team and gets just as much enjoyment nurturing the next generation from the sideline.
From Sarina, he spent a few years living up the Pioneer Valley in Marian, before his boilermaking career took him throughout the Bowen Basin where his future was forged in mining.
“People ask me where I stand on mining, it’s an industry I’ve built my career in and most of my extended family work in the industry,” Mr Hamilton said.
“The employment the mining industry generates is phenomenal,” he said.
“I know there’s rhetoric around Labor and the Greens and it’s false. As a person who has built a career in mining, there’s no better person than me sitting in Canberra to say what’s really impacting people in the industry.
“That’s a big part of the reason I’ve thrown my hand up for politics, because I’m really passionate about protecting the hard-working Australians out there.”
Mr Hamilton said it’s not in Labor’s game plan to shut down mining.
“It’s in our game plan to create more opportunities, by using mining as a baseload industry, but by looking at the big picture and asking how we create other jobs around it moving forward,” he said.
“My personal big push is regional manufacturing, bringing that back.
“We could be competing with the likes of Germany, building a name for quality, not trying to compete with places like China on price. I’ve seen steel towers shipped into Hay Point from overseas for big projects. As a boilermaker, I saw a lost opportunity in making that product here.”
Mr Hamilton said he believes sugar is another important part of the Dawson electorate and wants to fight for a fair go for farmers.
“My parents rented 160 acres in Sarina so we grew up with cattle and cane,” he said.
“Traditionally cane farmers don’t think a Labor bloke will understand them but it’s an area I’m really focused on and wanting to learn more about.
“Labor’s energy policies focus on lowering energy costs for farmers so they don’t have to think twice about whether they can afford to irrigate.”
Keep an eye out on our political column every week until the federal election to find out more from the federal candidates who opted in to take part in this opportunity.
Labor Candidate for Dawson Shane Hamilton with his wife Anita, son Beau and daughters, Farrah and Isabella
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