A POWERFUL Federal politician had frank discussions with 10 constituents in the front bar of a Millicent hotel on Monday night.
In a rarely-seen move for Millicent, independent senator Rex Patrick held an open forum for two hours at the Sportsman’s Hotel.
Billed as “politics in the pub”, representatives of two local organisations took the rare opportunity to have face-to-face conversations with the Canberra powerbroker.
Limestone Coast Protection Alliance spokesperson Merilyn Paxton explained the environmental concerns of her lobby group.
Millicent and District International Basketball Association manager Peter Seebohm lobbied the senator for support towards the proposed $600,000 upgrade of its stadium.
Mr Seebohm said his sporting organisation was looking to create a social area with vantage points over the three courts to enable adults to mix while watching their children play.
He said the Millicent basketballers had also been seeking the backing of other politicians as well as Wattle Range Council.
“The stadium has a really good set-up but we have to keep on modernising,” Mr Seebohm said.
In reply, Mr Patrick detailed other projects in regional South Australia where he had played a hand in securing grant funding.
“I am happy to provide a letter of support,” the senator said.
Mr Patrick has been as a Centre Alliance Senator for South Australia since 2017 and is one of five crossbench senators who hold the balance of power and decide the fate of legislation.
He was a businessman, submariner and political staffer before filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of party leader Nick Xenophon.
Bar patrons quizzed the senator on such matters as the Newstart allowance, climate change, taxation paid by multi-national companies and certain defence force projects.
With speculation mounting of a Royal Commission into the bushfires, Mr Patrick said any such inquiry must have broad terms of reference.
“It must be completed by the next fire season or else an interim report should be issued,” he said.
In reply to a query from The South Eastern Times, Senator Patrick said he was aware that an absence of mobile phone towers had been critical in some areas during the bushfires.
He said some so-called “black spots” would continue to be filled in each year across regional South Australia but he would continue to apply pressure to the Federal Government on this issue.
The “politics in the pub” session came at the end of a busy day for the senator as he had visited the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill as well as meeting Wattle Range mayor Des Noll and his Mount Gambier City Council counterpart Lynette Martin.
Among his various appointments around the region this week is a visit to Avenue Range to discuss the lack of mobile phone towers with former Millicent resident Lucy McCourt-Pearce.
