Tanya Hargraves has also campaigned for banking reform. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Minor party Trumpet of Patriots candidate Tanya Hargraves is running for the seat of Farrer at the federal election.
She says she wants to protect freedom of speech, rebel against the ‘woke agenda’, cut immigration and the public service and advocate for a government-run bank.
The 64-year-old graphic designer from Boorowa, near Yass, rose to prominence when she campaigned for banking reform after, she says, she lost her farm to a complex refinancing scheme a major bank convinced her to adopt.
She lobbied politicians over the next few years to advocate for reform and says this experience made her aware of “all the corruption in government”, something she wants to change by representing the minor party backed by billionaire Clive Palmer in parliament.
Region caught up with her after she attended a Meet the Candidates forum in Griffith last week.
What does Trumpet of Patriots actually mean?
Trumpet of Patriots is out of the Book of Revelation [Bible]. They blew seven trumpets to rise up and fight. That’s what we are doing; we are calling on Australians to rise up and fight for their country.
But surely the play on words hints at Donald Trump. Do you see him as a positive influence in the world?
Before he was elected, the woke agenda was going overboard in America. The country was in $40 trillion of debt and it was snowballing. [Billionaire and Trump ally] Elon Musk is getting rid of the wastage. If you’ve got a business that’s trading in liquidation, you bring more income in and you cut costs.
Would you like to see cuts to the public service here too?
I’d like to go through the public service and see where the wastage is; if everyone is effective it wouldn’t matter. There is doubling up. I’m not saying we need to cut 50,000 public servants, but we need to see where the doubling up is and go through it.
What else would you like to see change in Australia?
To make Australia great again, we need a sovereign [government-run] bank. We’ve got over $6 trillion in superannuation floating around the world in various hedge funds; we need to bring it home, put it into a government-run bank, give everyone a share in the bank so we all own it, and reinvest that money back into infrastructure in Australia.
Albury hospital doesn’t even have dialysis machines. Patients have to go to Wodonga. That’s not right … we can invest in those basic needs, build roads and rail.
Why do you want to cut immigration?
We don’t have the infrastructure to support it. Labor is bringing in a lot of immigration to get more votes.
On your How to Vote card, why have you recommended putting Liberal MP Sussan Ley last, behind Labor and the Greens?
Because she is the incumbent. In Eden Monaro [which is held by Labor] we are putting Labor last. We are putting the pro-freedom parties high on our list and the major parties down the bottom.
Do you support transgender rights?
It’s against my belief system. There’s a man and woman, male and female, end of story. We are just confusing our kids. I don’t mind what people do, they can do whatever they like, but don’t impose your beliefs onto us … we shouldn’t be changing our laws for a minority.
What’s Clive Palmer like?
He’s full-on, but he’s down to earth and really believes in our policies.
