Leanne Lockyer announced as Legalise Cannabis WA candidate for North West Central by-election

A new candidate has entered the race for the North West Central by-election, with the Legalise Cannabis party announcing Leanne Lockyer as their candidate for the upcoming contest.

Ms Lockyer, a proud Indigenous woman, was announced as the Legalise Cannabis WA candidate on August 25 and will contest the by-election against Nationals candidate Merome Beard, Liberal candidate Will Baston and Greens candidate Niels Glahn-Bertelsen.

Voters in the electorate, which covers 820,591sqm and includes 14 shires, will go to the polls for the by-election on September 17, with early voting opening on August 31.

Ms Lockyer said she wants to see a safer country, a more diverse economy and a healthier, more united society.

“We need jobs and industries that will bring our local communities together and foster better levels of understanding,” she said.

“Hemp production here in North West Central has the potential to do all that and more because it will put money into local pockets while nurturing the land.

“The major parties are offering the same old tired policies, when they can be bothered to put up a candidate at all. It’s time we grabbed our local potential with both hands and that’s what I’m looking to do as your LCWA candidate.”

Legalise Cannabis WA MLC Brian Walker said the party’s result in the Federal election, where it received 3.38 per cent of the WA Senate vote, showed a groundswell in support of cannabis reform across the country.

“I have no reason to think North West Central will be any different, especially now that Labor have confirmed their abandonment of the seat,” Dr Walker said.

“The cannabis plant has so much to offer from an economic perspective and we want to see the north of our State benefiting from its growth, healing the land while sustaining its people.

“At a time when the government has such a smothering majority in both houses of Parliament, it’s important that voters are presented with a real alternative and Legalise Cannabis WA offers just that.”