Long-term Bendigo resident Evelyn Keetelaar is running for the Family First Party Australia.

Areas she is passionate about include national curriculum reform to focus on essential learning, protecting life and women’s spaces and definitions, tackling cost-of-living, upholding parental authority and housing challenges.

In Bendigo, she believes that major concerns are housing affordability, homelessness, healthcare access, mental health, living costs, child poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and financial hardship.

Specifically, she identifies GP wait times, reduced bulk-billing and more out-of-pocket costs as healthcare issues.

She believes that flood recovery, resilient infrastructure, economic development, sustaining local agriculture and improved health services are important in Rochester, Elmore and surrounds.

This includes community-focused disaster recovery and resilience.

In Rochester in particular, Mrs Keetelaar supports funding for a new aquatic facility and national aquatic infrastructure program.

When addressing the Campapse Shire Council points of advocacy, Mrs Keetelaar backs restoring federal Finance Assistance Grants to one per cent, fast-tracked road reconstruction and fair compensation to those impacted by water purchases.

If elected, Mrs Keetelaar would see herself as a strong voice for the electorate, advocating for fair funding, regional infrastructure and family and local community-focused policies.

She believes she would work with all levels of government to have the region’s needs addressed.

In particular, Mrs Keetelaar would look to push for improved health funding, including GP and allied health worker incentives to increase access in the regions.

She would also support polices to reduce housing barriers, like unlocking, or rezoning, land and building more affordable housing.

In terms of economic growth and employment, she would look to support local businesses, apprenticeships and infrastructure.

If elected, Mrs Keetelaar said she would commit to regular visits across the Bendigo electorate, hosting open forums and seeking direct community engagement.

Furthermore, she would look to work with local leaders around the region.

She feels that doing so would bring local concerns and a range of voices to Canberra, aiming to provide practical solutions.

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Friday, 27th June 2025

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