Proserpine farmer Lachlan Lade announced as a candidate for the Libertarian Party Australia
A self-described actor, carnivore and fitness fanatic, this North Queensland farm boy is making waves on TikTok for his bizarre shirtless campaign videos discussing civil liberties, race and population control as part of a new political party.
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A self-described actor, carnivore and fitness fanatic is throwing his hat into the ring for a tilt at the Senate, using shirtless videos of himself on social media to discuss his campaign points.
Lachlan Lade grew up in Proserpine, attending high school before moving to Brisbane for a decade.
After growing up consistently involved in politics, the 28-year-old has decided to run in the next federal election after the Libertarian Party Australia, formerly known as the Liberal Democrats, decided he was the right man for the job.
The LP’s campaign is being run by former Queensland premier Campbell Newman.
Mr Lade’s motivating factor for this step is his opinion that the Australian Government plays too much of a hand in everyday people’s lives.
“What I see from Liberal and Labor predominantly is that they believe it’s their job to tell us how to live or direct society,” he said.
Known online as the ‘Dunder Viking’, Mr Lade said his main concern was the “cost of the government crisis” and the focus that Australian politics has on race.
“We keep paying more and more to the government in every regard, but yet nothing is improving,” he said.
“I’m an eighth generation Australian, my partner’s an immigrant, my campaign manager’s an immigrant, my mentors are immigrants. We can’t go ahead and give more voice, more votes to three per cent of the population.
“We need to make life affordable again when most people’s struggles are putting food in their mouths, fuel in the car and getting to work on time but yet we have such a focus in politics about race when it really shouldn’t be a conversation in the year 2024.
“We’re all equal, we’re all Australians and we don’t have any time for these race issues. It’s from a bygone era.”
In terms of immigration, he said that a “sensible, controlled, responsible” system can be created that doesn’t disadvantage Australian citizens.
“If it’s people who are coming here who want to adopt our values, who want to follow the laws of our society and love this country as if it was always their own, there is absolutely no problem, but immigration has to be for the betterment of the upcoming Australians and ourselves” he said.
“I truly do not want to see any of the scenes that we’re seeing in England and Europe when we have mass immigration, where people are not assimilating, where people are forming their own little communities with their own culture on our own soil.”
Other campaign priorities for Mr Lade include increased housing to make the “Australian dream” of home ownership more achievable, pushing back on the social media restrictions for teenagers and advocating for nuclear energy.
“I grew up with social media, I had wonderful friends, communities and support from social media. If the government then takes that away, that would have made my upbringing much harder,” he said.
“The simplest thing I think we need to focus on is returning and empowering families in their homes … a mother and father raising their children with the right values will create strong families and as a result, strong communities and a resilient nation.”
Using social media to discuss his opinions and campaign priorities, Mr Lade said it allows him to present a truthful expression of himself — which usually comes in the form of him shirtless eating his meat-only diet or working out in his home gym.
“It’s marketing,” he said.
“I want to share my life and my beliefs and that’s what you’re seeing.
“I think all politicians really need to engage with social media … it’s the best way to communicate with communities.”
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Originally published as Proserpine farmer Lachlan Lade announced as a candidate for the Libertarian Party Australia
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