ALEX Dyson who ran as an independent in the last Federal Election in 2022, and who made significant inroads in making the electorate of Wannon marginal, is throwing his hat in the ring again.

 Although the date for the next Federal Election is yet to be called by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Mr Dyson said he was getting a head start and has hit the ground running getting around to all the towns in the electorate talking and listening to as many people as he can.

Mr Dyson, 36, said he felt compelled to run again due to the sheer number of people that had encouraged him to do so, and as he once again has the privilege of the backing of Voices of Wannon, he was ready to go again.

Last election in 2022, Mr Dyson received 20.09 per cent of first preferences with a tally of 17,122 and a swing of +10.44.

“It’s nice to have some encouraging results,” he said.

“However, without an actual victory you don’t have the power to truly advocate in Canberra.

“The major parties aren’t particularly interested in giving us a fair go when (compared) to other electorates.”

He said he was already actively campaigning and felt the strong encouragement from locals all around Wannon to run again. 

“I was in the Cally last Saturday night and talking to a few people,” he said.

“Naturally the first thing that came up was roads.

“I was talking to a guy who said he had bought a new car recently and the axles were already worn down - he couldn’t claim it on warranty – our poor roads are having real world impacts on people.

“Same thing in Cobden, I was talking to a guy who said the rims were worn down on his Golf VW.”

He said fundamentally both the major parties have had plenty of opportunity to really invest in our local infrastructure but have just taken the electorate for granted.

“Given we’ve voted the same way for a really long time – politicians have had ample time,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there’s no motivation for them to fix our roads.

“Recently it was reported that 60 per cent of roads funding have gone to Labor held seats –the major parties are not motivated to invest in Wannon.

“If we want them to act differently, we’ve got to vote differently.

“Wannon has been politically stale for a really long time.

“At the moment our loyalty is not being rewarded.

“But we’ve entered a cost-of-living crisis – I want to hear what’s impacting people.

“I was talking to a farmer on Saturday night as well and he was really worried about the fact we’ve had so little rain.

“So, we’ll be getting around to farms, sitting around the kitchen table, talking and listening and hearing about the real-world impacts of the cost-of-living crisis.

“I find it fascinating that as soon as there is a change of government, the major parties just automatically lay blame on the previous, and the new government blame the current for not getting the job done.

“As we’ve seen its pretty difficult to trust the major parties who both had a hand in causing the cost-of-living crisis and now they want us to trust them to fix it.

“You see the profits the banks and supermarkets are making – but the government keeps leaning on mortgage holders and renters to do the heavy lifting in this inflation problem.”

Since the last election, Mr Dyson has been working on his podcast with comedian Matt Okine twice a week.

Although some of the recordings are done in Melbourne, he said he was able to do that work from his home base in Warrnambool after moving back in April 2024.

He also started his own business, a comedy club – but he is very flexible with his work thus can continue to campaign around the electorate.

“This is home,” he said.

“You can’t bump into your old swimming coach in Melbourne, or your Grade three teacher.

“That’s what I love about it here in the country.

“You always feel the pull to come back, and I think it’s really important to have local representation.

“I really want to get the electorate better representation.

“I’m really encouraged by the impact independents are having in Canberra, whether it’s the anti-corruption commission, or gambling advertising reforms – they’re having a really big impact and that can be advanced and they can hold the government to account. A bit of bottom-up advice rather than top down.”

Mr Dyson grew up in Warrnambool and attended Warrnambool Primary School and Warrnambool Secondary College before studying for a Bachelor of Creative Arts at Melbourne University.

He said he has strong ties to Hamilton given his father was a secondary school teacher at Monivae College.

“People often say to me – oh Mr Dyson is your dad,” he said.

He believes winning the seat at the next election is achievable.

“It’s well within reach and I think absolutely on the cards that we could have a local independent elected this time next year,” he said.

Mr Dyson plans to visit Hamilton on September 5 and to get around and meet as many people as possible.

“Our brand will be orange – my favourite colour – a local has donated a truck that will be painted orange for visibility,” he said.

Presently working remotely doing the podcast twice a week – it gives me a bit of flexibility to be a political candidate.

He said anyone interested in learning more about his campaign can go to the Alex Dyson Independent website.

“The community is my running mate and I want to amplify their voice,” he said.

“I really want to listen and get their voice elevated.”