Community
11 April, 2025
Lismore shed receives visitor
INDEPENDENT candidate for Wannon Alex Dyson visited Lismore last week as part of his campaign for the May 3 Federal Election, making a stop at the Lismore Men’s Shed.
The visit was part of Mr Dyson’s ‘meet the candidate’ visit last Wednesday, where he also made a stop at a farm on the outskirts of town.
Lismore Men’s Shed secretary Stan Foote showed Mr Dyson around the 28 Brown Street facility, including sharing future plans and community projects currently underway.
“I have met him before at the last election and had a fairly long conversation with him then,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the CFA were doing some burning off, and most of the men left at around 2pm to go to help out with that.
“I showed him around the place, explained to him what we were doing, what our plans were.
“I explained what we’ve done down there – he listened to it and he asked what the main concern was in Lismore.
“I told him I didn’t live in Lismore, but I believed the biggest problem in Lismore is crime.”
Mr Foote said cost of living pressures were also an issue for the town.
Mr Dyson said Mr Foote was “great” in showing him around the Men’s Shed facility.
“I just really love community-based organisations that are keeping people healthy without us even knowing it and making great things for the community,” he said.
“They’re making park benches, they’re making lecterns.”
Mr Dyson said he wanted to visit the Men’s Shed as mental health had always been a key advocacy point for his campaign.
“For three campaigns now, I’ve been trying to advocate for mental health in the regions because studies show we’ve got poorer outcomes out here and that’s particularly in blokes and people who work in the agriculture industry,” he said.
“Making sure I’m advocating for that is pretty important, and it’s been good to be able to connect with organisations such as Movember, who have been doing it for a while and really want to focus on the regions and make sure everyone in Federal Government is giving us the help that we need to keep our mental health in check.
“Men’s Sheds are a great way for blokes to come together.
“It’s a great thing because you don’t have to talk about mental health – you can just have a good chat with your mates.
“Mental health gets a bit better without having to focus on it sometimes, and prevention is better than a cure.”
Mr Dyson said he was keen to ensure small towns such as Lismore were heard in Federal Government.
“Small towns in south west Victoria often get overlooked – as an Independent, I answer to the community, not a political party, so I want to make sure towns that have been overlooked for a long time have someone who’s going to go out there and advocate for them,” he said.
Read More: Lismore