Warrnambool vet Stephen Jagoe to run on senate ticket for Australian Democrats in the federal election

Warrnambool veterinarian Stephen Jagoe has been endorsed by the Australian Democrats to contest for an upper-house seat in Canberra.

The 60-year-old father of two said he would be campaigning for climate action and a parliamentary integrity commission, but also chose to represent the Australian Democrats to promote its economic policy.

"At the moment the Australian tax system is not fit for purpose," Mr Jagoe said.

"There has been a massive shift of wealth from the wage earners of Australia to the corporations in the last 30 to 40 years."

"The Democrats' economic policy provides a blueprint for redistributing that wealth back towards the wage earners, and for government to actually have the money to provide adequate and good services for Australians."

He said he would also focus on regional issues including better public transport and roads and supporting the agricultural sector in adapting to climate change.

"Compared to the rest of Victoria, we have very poor transport links. Our rail services aren't very good, and our road networks are very poor," he said.

"Even though it might be seen as a state issue, there's federal responsibility to maintain transport links to the community.

"We've also got the climate change policies that will benefit regional Victoria long term, and the agricultural sustainability policy of the Democrats will help benefit local farmers."

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Mr Jagoe said he decided to enter politics due to frustration with the way Australian politics was operating.

"The political system in Australia is broken," he said.

"The government hasn't really looked after the people, they've looked after vested interests and their own donors.

"Most people have just switched off from the day-to-day operation of the federal government because of all the controversies and chaos."

Mr Jagoe said he opted to run in the senate for its greater advocacy and legislative roles.

"Having the balance of power in the senate, you can make legislation a lot fairer for the community," he said.

"The senate can also run its own inquiries into the function of government, which is a very important role."

Mr Jagoe said the upcoming election was a chance to break the "Labor-Liberal duopoly".

"There needs to be a change in politics," he said.

"We have a Liberal-National party that wants to get through this election to continue their current practices, and we have a Labor party that really isn't looking too far into the distance either."

"We need more voices in parliament."

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