Federal election 2019: Why I’m voting for One Nation

After a lifetime of voting for the Greens, single mother Toni Reeves has decided this year she will back Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

I grew up in the suburbs of Dundas and Parramatta in Sydney’s west, where my parents before me also grew up.

I first became aware of One Nation when Pauline Hanson started the party and have followed her journey from the beginning, so I’ve seen how Pauline and One Nation have evolved.

I’m an Australian-born working single mother to two boys aged nine and 11. My youngest has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and ODD.

One day recently I found One Nation candidate Emma Eros on Facebook, and through following her posts, which were common sense and aligned with what I believed, I also started following Mark Latham who I had once underestimated.

Following Emma Eros on social media led Toni to support One Nation.

I have now come to agree with much of what Mark, Emma and Pauline stand for. I will openly not stand by and watch the selling off of our prime agricultural land.

The fact I’ll be voting One Nation is a huge 180-degree turnaround from when I first became interested in politics and followed the Greens. I believe this is a huge testament to how Mark and Pauline have shown staying power and evolved with the true needs of Australians and the country’s best interests over the years.

As you can probably tell by the fact that I have previously supported the Greens, I have many concerns relating to sustainability and worldwide overpopulation, and much of what I have read about One Nation and their policies addresses these concerns.

I have over time come to realise that the Greens do not truly represent Australia and its bests interests — they’re only concerned about the environment, and the country is so much more than that.

One Nation’s policies address the whole country. This is why I recently voted for Emma Eros and Mark Latham in the NSW state election and will vote for Pauline in the upcoming Federal Election.

RELATED: Where to vote on election day

RELATED: The 10 seats that will determine Australia’s future

RELATED: Big change that screws our leaders

My main concerns for the future of Australia and my children are the key areas of overpopulation, poor infrastructure and planning for a burgeoning population, transparency in government and the selling off of Australia. Don’t get me started!

One Nation has commonsense policies that speak to me.

To be truthful, I’m an advocate for each of their policies. I have read them all thoroughly but if I had to choose my favourite policies, they would be the three from Mark Latham:

• To cut electricity bills by $85 per annum. Every cent counts.

• Scrapping the spending of $810 million dollars on the Olympic Stadium at Homebush. I can think of a million other ways that the money could be better spent. Again, it all comes back to common sense.

• The new proposed hospital at Western Sydney is the jewel in the crown for me. As the daughter of elderly parents in their 70s who live in that area, I can honestly say that this hospital will be a huge bonus for the residents of the area as well as boosting community finances during the construction phase.

Pauline Hanson will get Toni’s vote. Picture: Liam Kidston.

For me, personally, the main weakness the Coalition and Labor exhibit is they keep churning out the same old rhetoric and nothing ever changes.

The saying that I think applies to our two major parties is broadly credited to Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”

What an awesome quote, and I think it befits both parties.

As for Clive Palmer — he had his chance and fell asleep at the wheel. His money would be better spent assisting the homeless.

I hope that by voting One Nation I will be contributing to the election of a party that I believe to have the best interest of Australians and Australia at the cornerstone of their policies.

I believe that the Australian voting public needs to stand back, take a good hard look at the state of Australia and then venture over to the One Nation website and have a look at their policies and what they have to offer.

I think they will be pleasantly surprised.

Toni Reeves is a single mother of two children from Arcadia in Sydney’s northwest.