THE National party has confirmed its preselected candidate at the upcoming Federal Election for the seat of Parkes.
Jaime Chaffey has been named to run for the seat and has been putting in the kilometres by car and on foot to meet with voters.
Born and raised in regional New South Wales, Mr Chaffey has lived in the Gunnedah community since 1991.
For the last 31 years, with his wife Judy, the couple have raised four children and now enjoy being grandparents to three grandchildren.
“Our home is on our family grain and cattle property near Gunnedah, where I am an active member of our Anglican church and have volunteered for many years with Gunnedah Rotary and the Carroll RFS brigade,” he said.
“I was very fortunate to grow up in a regional community, I’m a boiler maker by trade and I joined the family business once married and completed my trade.
“My wife’s family had an engineering firm in Gunnedah. Now two of my children have taken over the family business.
“I’m proud to say it is a third-generation family run business.
“I spent 30 years in business, I was on the Chamber of Commerce.”
Mr Chaffey ran for Gunnedah City Council in 2016 and was then elected mayor – a position he held for eight years.
“I had lots of experience with the three tiers of government and how they work,” he said.
“I also received a really good understanding of it all when I was the chair of the Country Mayor’s Association.
“I’ve developed many relationships with council’s across Parkes.
“Working at a local government level has helped me work closer with State and Federal government.”
Mr Chaffey said when current Parkes MP Mark Coulton announced his retirement he was quite excited to put his hand up for preselection.
“I am passionate about regional Australia and will work hard to continue the legacy of Mark Coulton MP, advocating tirelessly to ensure our region gets its fair share,” Mr Chaffey said.
“Mark was my representative and he has been able to engage the local community and make a difference as Federal member.”
Mr Chaffey said he’s been a member of the National Party for many years.
“My values are in line with the National Party’s beliefs,” he said.
Mr Chaffey also said he recognises the geographical distance of the electorate.
“It is a challenge, it’s the largest Federal seat in New South Wales.
“Mark has done a wonderful job.
“I’ve been full time campaigning since September, and I’ve done about 22,000 kilometres across the electorate.
“I’ve door knocked 14,000 homes and delivered 14,000 flyers and I’m getting a clear message from speaking with the communities.
“There are isolated concerns, but the consistent message is health care, age care and childcare.
“People would also like to ensure developments in road infrastructure and telecommunications.”
Mr Chaffey said he was proud to be a part of a Coalition government.
“They’ve developed a lot of strong policies and I’m expecting to see some good announcements,” he said.
When it comes to Broken Hill, Jaime said he has had a few visits.
“I’m not from Broken Hill, but I was there for a block of eight days, and I did some door knocking before Christmas.
“I feel like I’m halfway through door knocking Broken Hill.
“I’ve spoken with the business community and Council. I’ll be back in Broken Hill in about three weeks.
“I’ll be fighting for businesses to receive support to employ more staff and receive more opportunities.”
