Dubbo civil engineer Matt Parmeter has confirmed he will represent the Greens in the seat of Dubbo at the NSW election in March next year.
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Mr Parmeter believes the Greens' key policies of opposing coal seam gas, pushing for renewable energy, strengthening the public education system and retaining government ownership of the electricity network are particularly appropriate in the Dubbo electorate.
The NSW Office of Water employee has previously run for office at the state and federal elections but believes now more than ever people should be looking at the Greens.
"The Greens will be releasing a number of policies as we get close to the election but CSG, renewable electricity and education will be some of the main ones," Mr Parmeter said.
"This is a new electorate with the boundary changes and it's a chance for people to express their view.
"We are asking them to vote Green for a better future for NSW and a better future for this region."
One area where the Greens have been particularly outspoken is CSG extraction. Mr Parmeter said he did not think the short lifespan of gas wells was worth the risk to the environment and potential damage to prime farming land.
"We think coal seam gas will be one of the election issues and the Greens are strongly opposed to coal seam gas for a few reasons," Mr Parmeter said.
"One is the effect on land and water but one of the real reasons is we think it's the wrong direction to go in.
"Burning gas is 19th century technology and we need to be going into 21st century technology. For our region that's renewables and we think there are a lot of jobs in renewables."
Dubbo has the highest rate of homes with solar panels in NSW, with almost a third of households supplied some power by the sun.
Mr Parmeter said that rate of adoption, as well as the solar plant at Nyngan, was a step in the right direction.
"One of the Greens' policy positions is that electricity generation within NSW could become 100 per cent renewable within 15 years," he said.
"It's technically possible but we have to move in that direction, away from coal.
"There is a solar plant going in at Nyngan and another one planned at Broken Hill and Moree will also start. There's a big future for renewables and a lot of jobs and investment for our region."
The Greens are opposed to the state government's Smart and Skilled reforms for TAFE and the move to increase the number of private providers.
Mr Parmeter said the plan would destabilise a quality education provider.
"In 2012-13 there were a lot of TAFE teaching positions lost and in Victoria TAFE has been gutted," he said.
"TAFE is a strong educational institute. Non-TAFE institutes are more variable but TAFE has always been a high quality vocational training centre and we don't want that to change."
Other major policies for the Greens include opposing the privatisation of NSW electricity and increasing government funding for public libraries, Mr Parmeter said.