By Eleanor Wilson
Narre Warren North Liberal candidate Timothy Dragan wants to speak for the forgotten people, the battlers, and the quiet Australians.
That’s what he told Star News after the Liberal Party endorsed him as its Narre Warren North candidate late last month.
Dandenong born Dragan, who hails from a large Romanian family, will attempt to break Labor’s 20-year stronghold of the Narre Warren North electorate in the State election later this year.
With a professional background in business and consultancy, Dragan has been a Liberal Party member for three years and Liberal chairman for Narre Warren North for 18 months.
Living locally his whole life, he believes he knows what his electorate needs.
“We have seen our healthcare in decline even though Dan promised to fix it in 2014.
“Instead, he’s pulled out money from healthcare and redistributed it for infrastructure.
“Infrastructure is great, but health is a priority. As the cliché goes, ‘your health is your wealth’.”
Aside from tackling the health crisis, the 26-year-old said decreasing the cost of living would be another main focus should he be successful at the election.
“As a person who comes from a large family and commutes to work, I can truly understand the difficulty of cost of living,” he said.
“I think that releasing our natural gas potential will help lower energy prices and give people tangible relief.”
Since its inception in 2002, the seat of Narre Warren North has been held consistently by Labor’s Luke Donnellan.
But the MP will exit his role at the November election, with Belinda Wilson to take his place.
Regardless, Dragan believes Labor’s hold over the electorate, which includes Lysterfield South, Endeavour Hills, Narre Warren North, Hallam and Narre Warren, may have passed its halcyon days.
“With the health crises that we are facing because of the cut of spending in healthcare by the Andrews’ Government, I think people are worried about what we are seeing, and want to see that priorities like health are taken care of.”
Dragan said he plans to platform integrity as part of his campaign, something he believes the Andrews Government has been incapable of displaying in recent years.
“Our incumbent representative was caught up with the red shirt scandal in the IBAC hearings. And taxpayer dollars wasted for partisan politics,” he said.
“How can we trust a government that is systematically corrupt, as IBAC has reported?”
A strong critic of the “arbitrary rules” enforced by the Labor Government during Covid lockdowns, Mr Dragan advocated for local businesses during Covid lockdowns and also holds a position as secretary of suicide-prevention charity Life! Central, which he says has shown him the urgent need for mental healthcare.
“Unlike many who are parachuted in by parties, politicians and unions, I come with real-world experience, and believe I can represent businesses, families and individuals,” he said.
