DESPITE being the youngest candidate contesting the seat of Armadale, Anthony Pyle (26) already has a reputation for helping people in his community.
The Greens candidate has been employed in disability services as a support worker for four years and lives locally, helping clients in the Armadale area.
Mr Pyle believes underemployment and unemployment are the biggest issues confronting Armadale.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“One in five people are either unemployed or underemployed and that number is higher in young people,” he said.
“It reflects back to Tafe costs going up 600 per cent; people can’t get an education and are being told to upskill yet can’t afford to take the opportunity.”
He dismissed the Liberal Party’s announcement of for a new Armadale Tafe, saying enrolment figures across WA had already dropped 7 per cent.
“How beneficial is a large new campus when we can’t even use the current facilities to their full potential?” he asked.
“Barnett’s election promise is basically an empty building.”
His action list included integrating public transport, with more buses and increased security on the Armadale train line so people felt more comfortable using it.
He said he was disappointed to see young people disengaged with politics.
“People say to me, ‘oh wow, you’re so into politics’; honestly I want to say yes, why aren’t you,” he said.
“I look at the other candidates who are 20 years older than me, white men in their 40s and 50s and I think, ‘where are they women, young people, people of colour’?”
Coming from a conservative political family, Mr Pyle said even his parents felt a disconnect with the major political parties.
“It’s interesting, I’ve spoken to a lot of other people who feel the same, who would call themselves economic conservatives and social progressives, who are thinking of not voting traditionally this election,” he said.