Hard-right politician Bernie Finn has announced he will be leading the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) into the November state election.
The announcement follows his expulsion from the parliamentary Liberal Party last week for disobedience around controversial social media posts, including his comments that abortion should be banned even in rape cases.
Mr Finn told Star Weekly his campaign aims would be defending workers, supporting small businesses, supporting regional Victoria and protecting “traditional” families, particularly in light of the increased cost of living.
“There’s still very strong DLP support in the northwest of Melbourne and I’m looking forward to reigniting that, and bringing that power back to Spring Street,” he said.
Mr Finn said an issue he would like to see dealt with immediately is the cost of energy, and would be taking a hard stance against clean energy because “they’re not renewables, what they are in fact is unreliables”.
“We have enough coal, we have enough gas, for everyone. We should allow the gas to be mined and for the coal to be burnt and we can get on with people living a reasonable standard of living,” he said.
Mr Finn will run in the Western Metropolitan region, which is an area he has represented in the Victorian upper house since 2006, covering multiple local government areas including Hume, Moonee Valley, Brimbank, Melton, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong and Wyndham.
The DLP broke off from the Australian Labor Party in 1955 and the Australian Electoral Commission deregistered it in March this year due to low membership, but it remains registered for state and territory elections in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.
“If people take a view of what our policies will be when they are presented, they will be impressed,” Mr Finn said.
“They will in fact give the party their support, and those who are angry with the Andrews government, and there are a lot of people there, but are still very concerned that the Guy opposition isn’t ready to govern – they can vote for the DLP.
“They now have an alternative.”
