PETER Cozyn believes Australia is ready for a political party that is not one of the big two, which is why he has put his hand up to run as a candidate for Clive Palmer's United Australia Party.
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Mr Cozyn, 63, who was once a member of One Nation, has moved away from those policies, keen to be associated with more centrist style of politics than one on the far right - or left - of the political divide.
"Basically I've grown tired of the two major parties and I've decided to choose a party that is high level, in the middle of politics, not on the extreme side," Mr Cozyn said.
"The attraction of the United Australia Party is you're dealing with a man who is putting $70 million of his own money on the line, so you know he is looking for a return, there will be a return on the investment and it's something I'm following.
"The party is fielding candidates in all 151 seats and in the Senate. There has to be a return. Our polling is saying we are looking at about five per cent. Brisbane and Sydney is where it is going to be, we know Melbourne and throughout Victoria will be very tough."
Mr Cozyn is under no illusions about the job ahead of him to pry the seat away from Labor's Catherine King who will become the longest serving MP in Ballarat's history if she wins on May 18. The party hopes to pick up a handful of seats in both the upper and lower house.
However, he said he offered something different he hopes would attract voters.
I'm the perfect person to represent Ballarat from the point of view as a person of colour. I'm a professional, I'm an engineer, I have a masters degree in computing, I've worked for three big companies in IBM, Telstra and Hewlett Packard, and I know about Ballarat.
- Peter Cozyn, United Australia Party
"I'm a child of apartheid, from South Africa," he said. "I can tell you what discrimination is and what it is not. Half my family is Muslim, I can tell you what Islam is and what Islam is not.
"I'm the perfect person to represent Ballarat from the point of view as a person of colour. I'm a professional, I'm an engineer, I have a masters degree in computing, I've worked for three big companies in IBM, Telstra and Hewlett Packard, and I know about Ballarat.
"We as a family are heavily into the dancing and Rockabilly scene, we absolutely love it and we were very disappointed this year that it wasn't in the main street. My daughter is one of the major performers at the festival."
Mr Cozyn said the United Australia Party's policies focused on federal issues including the need for a fast train to Ballarat.
"We are also very supportive of the farmers. We believe the banks too often have given the farmers a bad deal."
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