David Landini has submitted an application to form his own political party on the platform of establishing The Riverina State. Photo: Supplied.
An independent candidate campaigning for the establishment of a new Riverina state that breaks away entirely from NSW has just submitted an application to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to form his own political party.
David Landini, a wool broker from the town of Wakool, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat of Murray – based around Griffith – in the 2019 and 2023 state elections, argued that a large area west of the Great Diving Range needs its own premier and its own parliament, or risks being made politically irrelevant and lose many of its state-owned government services.
“There will be a proportion of the population who are very comfortable with the status quo, and they will have no reason to want to separate,” he said.
“Even though Wagga is one of the largest centres in the country, even Wagga will lose because politically you’ll become irrelevant.
“You are employed by the State Government, at Charles Sturt University or at the Base Hospital. Your job is safe now, but as as the areas west of the Great Dividing Range become more irrelevant politically, their jobs will be basically shipped into Sydney.”
Mr Landini’s movement is sometimes called ”Rexit”, inspired by Brexit, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2016.
He says country areas in NSW lose on average an electorate every eight years, when the electorates migrate from the country to the city. If this trend continues, he believes country electorates will become “politically irrelevant” and lose state-owned government services, such as Charles Sturt University, Wagga Base Hospital and the Wagga Air Force Base.
“At the moment, even towns like Hay, for example, a lot of their patients are now transported into Wagga Base Hospital. What that’s done is lead to a decline in the Hay Hospital,” he said.
The application to register a political party named The Riverina State included a list of 1646 members and was submitted on 17 October. It will be processed over the next few months.
“We actually want to build up to a referendum [for people in that proposed state] on state formation,” Mr Landini said.
“We will win that, I’m confident. Then we will use that successful referendum result to cause the State Government to consent to the formation of that state [Riverina].”
If his application goes through, Mr Landini plans to stand candidates in the next federal election in the electorates of Farrer, Riverina, Parkes and Eden-Monaro in NSW, and Mallee, Nicholls, Indi and Gippsland in Victoria.
His proposed Riverina State would be composed of the Riverina region and the northern areas of Victoria, arguing that “people from the bush know people from the bush better”.
“There’s lots of reasons why we would be better off separate politically from Sydney or Melbourne, and we can still be friends,” he said.
“It’s not an issue that we don’t like each other, but politically, we would prosper and be happier governing ourselves without Melbourne and Sydney basically just making the rules up.”
So far, Mr Landini’s idea to achieve statehood has been “very popular in the affected area”.
“It’s certainly very popular in the irrigation areas,” he said. “But I am a bit limited about how far I’ve been able to travel.
“The other thing is the proliferation of so-called renewable power farms, like with windmills and solar farms. Those decisions are made in Sydney. I’m of the opinion that if people in Sydney want renewable power, well, they can build their renewable power off Bondi Beach.”
Mr Landini is certain that things will work out in his favour.
“It will take time. This is not a short-term project, and there’s no end timeframe,” he said.
“But it is certain, because the governance that comes out of Sydney and Melbourne will only get worse for us.”
More information on the Rexit movement can be found on the Riverina State website.
