MOYNE Shire Councillor, Jim Doukas has notified Council of his intention to nominate as an independent candidate for the seat of South West Coast in the upcoming State Election on November 26.

The motivation to nominate came from a combination of things that included the decision by Warrnambool City Council to close the Warrnambool saleyards this week, which Mr Doukas did not support.

Mr Doukas said his candidacy would be aimed at getting a fairer share for country people.

“We just haven’t been getting anything from anybody,” he said.

“The way the state is being run is just appalling - the major projects - the Big Build with billions of dollars already over budget and very little to show for it.

“Then there’s road funding, health funding, the CFA - the number of volunteers we are losing - we will have no CFA soon.”

This is not the first time Mr Doukas has run for the seat of South West Coast, having previously stood as a candidate for the Australia Country Party in 2018.

In line with the Councillors as Candidates in a State or Federal Election Policy adopted on September 6, 2022, Cr Doukas is now on a leave of absence until after the election period.