Former City of Ballarat deputy mayor Wayne Rigg has announced he will run as an independent in the state election.
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Mr Rigg, a Fire Rescue Victoria employee, is well known in the Ballarat region for his advocacy for air services and a hospital helipad, his championing of transparency in local government, and supporting the rights of hunters and fishers.
He has been a member of the Labor Party and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party in the past, however Mr Rigg said in the end, none of those parties were a good fit for him, and he has let his memberships lapse.
"The issue for me is quite simple: if you're a member of a party, you have to toe the line; do whatever the leader or the caucus or people in Melbourne tell you to do," Mr Rigg told The Courier.
"That's why I've decided to run as an independent: to give a viable option other than the major parties to the people of Ripon. The best thing we could do is turn a government, whichever one, across Victoria into a minority government and have independents as a strong crossbench to hold them to account."
Mr Rigg will run against incumbent Louise Staley, from the Liberal Party, Labor's Martha Haylett, the Greens' Earl James, the Animal Justice Party's Holly Sitters and independent from Ararat Bernard Quince.
Ripon extends north-west past St Arnaud, but also includes the western edge of Ballarat, and Invermay to the north.
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