Anna Malcolm hadn’t initially planned on running for One Nation.
While checking something she’d seen on television, the Larpent local visited the party’s website and landed on a banner reading “become a candidate” out of curiosity.
“I kind of clicked it and filled in my details, and then I went, ‘oh my god, I think I just applied to be a candidate for One Nation’. And so I sat with that for about five minutes before I actually even told my husband,” she told the Brolga.
“So it was a little bit accidental, but some intention too, where I got fed up with the government making the choices they've been making.”
Who is she? Malcolm, originally from Glenthompson, is contesting the seat of Polwarth in the upcoming November 28 state election.
A former Gulf Air flight attendant who lived in Bahrain and South Korea, according to her campaign website, Malcolm ran an eco-business for 13 years.
Wooly Mates sold hand-felted wool dryer balls before becoming EcoMates, a range of sustainable, non-toxic cleaners she developed herself.
“Dryers are not that eco-friendly … I figured if I can make a product that at least reduces the drying time … that certainly helps,” she explained.
“I made conscious decisions to get the bare ingredients locally as best I could … I would always use recycled plastic bottles where I could.”
Party policy: Asked how her eco-friendly business background fits with One Nation’s stance on climate and renewable energy, Malcolm said the party has “quite a few policies around the environment”, so it’s “not as contradictory as what you would think”.
One Nation’s published energy policy would scrap all net-zero targets and subsidies, and cancel the VNI West and Western Renewables Link transmission projects, which it says push up network charges and harm farmland.
It would also back upgrades to coal power infrastructure, reverse the ban on gas connections in new homes and repeal Victoria’s nuclear prohibition. The page does not address climate change beyond rejecting net-zero targets.
Its environment policy centres on bushfire prevention, water quality testing, public access to forests and rehabilitation bonds for energy projects.
What she said: At last week’s Polwarth candidate forum in Camperdown, hosted by the Victorian Farmers Federation, Malcolm went further, saying One Nation would ban commercial wind and solar projects, but allow small-scale personal use of solar on properties.
“We'll utilise the renewables [and coal] that are already in place. We're also looking to lift the moratorium on nuclear power. You cannot have a genuine assessment of the cost of implementing nuclear power in this country while there's a moratorium, no one’s going to bother doing the numbers,” she said.
Other priorities: If elected, Malcolm said she would push for improved mental health services in schools, upgrades to school buildings, and an increase in allied health services for NDIS participants in Colac.
“I know it's not one of our policies, so it might not be something I can get in 100 days … [but] we certainly need a lot of allied health services in Colac, and we'd prefer to not have to wait months before we can get into those services,” she said.
The politics: Malcolm was unable to confirm which party her voting preferences would go to, noting the decision is being left to “head office”.
“We can certainly give feedback to them and say, look, I really like this person, but ultimately it'll be their decision,” she said.
“The goal of One Nation at this point, aside from winning in its own right … the primary goal is to get Labor out. We will work with Liberals if we have to to ensure that Labor is out.”