At home: Annabelle Cleeland on her property near Seymour.
Photo by
Love by Lou Photography
Nationals candidate for the state seat of Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has been taking some time away from her Seymour-adjacent farm to meet communities throughout the electorate.
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It is no small task, with the seat of Euroa covering 11,600 square kilometres.
On Friday, August 12, she took some time out to have a chat to The Telegraph.
“This is my happy place,” Ms Cleeland said.
“My husband and I grew up in Mansfield and we’ve lived and worked all over regional Victoria since then.
“Four years ago, we purchased our farm near Seymour and we keep Merino sheep and bees.”
Ms Cleeland said she decided to run for the seat due to her passion to advocate for regional communities.
"When you are a living and breathing part of a community, you can see where we are in desperate need of investment, investment to ensure it is a beautiful place that my children can live without disadvantage,“ she said.
“My motivation is because I had a glorious upbringing in Mansfield.
“It is a supportive community where everyone wants you to succeed
“But in the past eight years, there has not been adequate investment in regional Victoria, and we have to fight for our basic needs.”
Ms Cleeland pointed to issues getting the Kilmore bypass completed, which has been on the table since 2014, as an example.
“The disparity of investment between Melbourne and regional Victoria means that the wellbeing of our community is being impacted,” she said.
“We have disadvantage in our healthcare, education and all of the services in our communities.”
Homegrown: Annabelle Cleeland in Seymour.
Photo by
Love by Lou Photography
Ms Cleeland said her decision to run was one she would not have taken without the support of her family.
“I think it wasn’t just me that made the decision,” she said.
“My husband is looking to adjust his work to be the primary carer of our children.
“It is an intense job in terms of time and emotional commitment. I know it will come with personal sacrifice.
"There are not many opportunities in your life where you have the potential to have such purpose.
“But it will be worth it for my children to have the chance to live in a region that has the potential to prosper.”
Policy-wise Ms Cleeland said she was supporting the regional infrastructure guarantee.
“That will be a game changer when it comes to capital investment to support the growth of the region,” she said.
“I also want to see equality of investment in health and education.”
Ms Cleeland said another area of focus would be affordable housing and addressing cost of living issues.
“How to tackle that comes back to that quality of investment,” she said.
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