By Eleanor Wilson
A young politics student is the latest candidate to unveil his plans to contest the seat of Narre Warren North at the upcoming State Election.
Stephen Matulec has been endorsed by the Liberal Democrats as their candidate for the electorate, which is expected to be hotly contested come November.
The election will see current Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan exit the electorate after 20 years in office – the same period of time Matulec has been alive.
But the Narre Warren local doesn’t view his age as a drawback.
“I believe with my age people may judge me and say that I do not have enough life experience,” he said.
“However, I believe age is not necessarily relevant and I want to see more young people getting into politics to help change our future.
“Politics has such a large effect on our lives and every vote matters so I would like to see more young people take an interest.”
Matulec said he believes high cost of living, high taxes, red tape for small businesses, education and civil liberty restrictions are the most important issues for the people of Narre Warren North.
“I want to reduce government expenditure to be able to stop inflation and stop the rising cost of living; I would also scrap stamp duty to bring down the cost of home ownership.”
Small businesses and property rights have “absolutely been destroyed” by government regulations in recent years, he said.
“I want to help small businesses by cutting red tape and giving them a chance to thrive in a freely competitive market without the government getting in their way.
“This will make it much easier and cheaper to start a business and I want the average person to be able to have a go at starting up a business.”
As for his decision to represent a minor party in the Liberal Democrats, Mr Matulec said it comes down to freedom – which he believes has been tested by the government in recent years.
“The Liberal Democrats have always stood up for individual freedom and liberty.
“I want to make sure that neither side of politics becomes too extreme and that we can respect each other’s personal choices.
The 20-year-old said establishing a bill of rights to “protect human rights in a liberal democracy” would also be on the cards if he is successful at the election.
“This would ensure things like free speech are protected and to make sure that the government overreach that occurred during the last couple of years cannot ever happen again.
“I would abolish the nanny state to allow every individual to live their life how they choose, as long as no one else is harmed.”
This would extend to education as well, with Matulec stating he would like there to be “maximum choice” for parents to decide what education they would like for their children.
“Education is an issue which I have received a lot of feedback about and there is a concern from parents about politicisation in the curriculum,” he said.
Matulec will run against Labor’s Belinda Wilson, Liberal candidate Timothy Dragan and Independent Stephen Capon for the seat of Narre Warren North.
