Although not officially listed on the ballot, there has been a number of corflutes appearing around Benalla promoting ‘‘Vote #1 Franklin’’.
His campaign manager, who asked to remain anonymous, said there was still some paperwork to do, but she expected him to be be an official candidate in the near future — although the AEC did not confirm that.
‘‘I’ve worked alongside Franklin for a number of years through his valuable volunteer work in the community to his work in rural farm management,’’ she said.
‘‘It was over a glass of Pino earlier this year that he told me he wanted to make a difference to the people, and more importantly the other dogs, in Indi.
‘‘All the other dogs at the dog park were telling him to run. So we decided to put him forward for the house of reps.’’
Franklin is the second Independent to announce their run for the seat of Indi, and he is approaching the campaign with a range of policy positions:
●Mandatory ‘‘Mad-Dog-Monday’’ meet ups at the park;
●Tax cuts on Smackos;
●More dog parks;
●All immigrants welcome — provided they engage in ‘‘snoot-boops’’;
●More funding for mental health services; and
●Animals.
Franklin has been tight lipped on other policy points and when asked about changes to self-funded super funds he refused to comment.
On the subject of penalty rates he simply looked up, ignored the question and went back to his bowl of mince.
His campaign manager said he would not be releasing preferences and confirmed he had been fully vaccinated and flea checked.
When questioned about a picture that has been released showing Franklin with a notorious ‘‘gangland-mastiff’’ we were told it had been taken out of context.
‘‘The allegations are false, he takes joy in volunteering at a dog rehab centre, which is where the leaked photo came from,’’ the spokesperson said.
‘‘But any links to organised crime are purely circumstantial.’’
●To find out more about Franklin and his stance on the important issues you can find him on Instagram @franklinsense—.
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