I’ve worked in agriculture all my life. Who can I vote for to protect Victoria’s food bowl?

The Murray River in Echuca. ‘You need a thick skin, a smart brain and good supply of irrigation water to navigate northern Victorian irrigated farming.’ Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

I’ve spent more than half my life in or near the central Victorian electorate of Nicholls. I’m the product of a large extended farming family and I’ve worked in agriculture all my life.

My left-leaning mates think I’m a conservative, my conservative mates think I’m a lefty. The truth is I’m neither. The major parties lost me over a decade ago when they abandoned policy and humanity for political expediency.