New Vic MP steps off construction site
Three weeks ago Daniel Young was a steel-working tradie in rural Victoria.
Now he's a new father, and will step into Victoria's Parliament House for the first time as the Shooters and Fishers Party's newest MP.
The 26-year-old was elected to the Legislative Council in the Northern Victorian Region, joining Jeffrey Bourman as the party's first Victorian MPs.
Mr Young's partner gave birth to a daughter on Sunday and he was elected on Tuesday.
"It's been a very big week, and two big, big changes in my life. I'm really, really happy about it," Mr Young told AAP.
After doing an apprenticeship, Mr Young worked through various steel trades and construction jobs.
"I'm literally a tradie. Three weeks ago I was working on a construction site," he said.
Mr Young has lived in the small town of Romsey, north of Melbourne, all his life and has never visited Parliament House.
He joined the party about six months ago after coming across them at a gun auction.
"Shooting and fishing are things I've been doing my entire life and I've always had a little bit of a passion for politics as well," he said.
Mr Young said his first concern was changing the dynamics of the way Victorians can use state forests and national parks.
"We just want to be able to have access to those areas just to use for as many of the sports as we like doing," he said.
"It's not just shooting and fishing, it's 4WDing, bushwalking and camping and hiking and stuff like that.
"Some of these areas are starting to lock you out, we don't want that.
"We want to see an end to having to pay to camp out under the stars."
Mr Young said he'd also like to see a review of gun laws.
"Some of the bureaucratic nonsense that we have to go through is just not needed. It's an absolute waste of time," he said.
"Gun registration only affects the people who have got their gun registered - they're doing the right thing already."
The Shooters and Fishers Party in Victoria's upper house is part of a crossbench full of micro-parties that hold the balance of power.
