For a man like Garry Dollin, watching the world go by has never really been an option.
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The Oaks resident and father of four is running in Hume for the United Australia Party (UAP), headed by eccentric billionaire Clive Palmer, who is himself contesting a Queensland Senate seat.
He's a guy who at first glance fits the part of UAP candidate. He films his social media messages wearing that inescapable yellow, is a self-made businessman and as an amateur pilot, flies around the large Hume electorate to attend meetings.
As for comparisons to Palmer however, you won't get very far. Dollin is about as far away from the world of mining as you can get, in fact, his line of work takes him underwater.
"I believe in sustainable industry and in some sectors demand is outstripping supply," he told the Post.
"The fishery sector was exactly that so I started studying aquaculture. This was back in 1998/99, no one really knew anything about it.
"So I bit the bullet and did the study and sure enough I was one of the first, if not the first, to do Murray Cod in intensive aquaculture. Don't you worry I lost a lot of business trying to get it right but after 20 years we now produce tonnes and tonnes every year."
So what does a fish farmer want to do with politics? Well, despite the UAP's lengthy list of policies, Dollin seems to be motivated by one thing, trying to fix something he believes is broken..
"If I see things that I think are a detriment to whatever industry, in this case it's the government, then we need to do something and get it right again," he explained.
"I'm a worker, I'm a thinker and I have always been a solutions guy."
Speaking with Dollin, who is fully vaccinated, it is very clear he thinks government has failed people, whether that's from soaring cost of living pressures or what he described as a failure to implement appropriate COVID-19 measures.
"I believe with the mandates that we went too far. In saying that though, right at the beginning I don't believe we went far enough," he said.
"As a fish farmer I've seen first-hand what disease can do to its host.
"The reason it got out of hand and why there was so much division in the end was because the top of society didn't stop but small businesses did and that put a lot of pressure on people at the bottom to keep on rolling.
"In a lot of cases a lot of the disinformation came out because of the pressure from the top. I think people were looking to justify what they needed to do to put food on the table.
"My favourite policy [we have] is every year the first $30,000 paid on your home loan will be tax deductible. I've got a big mortgage so I like that idea very much. I think it will help the cost of living for a lot of people.
"It is the number one thing in Hume."
And of the inevitable questions he fields about Palmer while campaigning? Dollin has a simple rebuke.
"You're not voting for Clive you are voting for me.
"If Clive wants to come through and say something outrageous (he can) but I'm an Australian first and foremost, not UAP. Everything has to fall into line about how I see things."
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