up for the challenge<\/a> and has even dared his rivals to a local debate. But with that invitation so far met with silence, the franchise mogul is taking his message straight to the voters.<\/p>\nSitting down with news.com.au, Mr Penman revealed exactly how he plans to shake up parliament in his first 100 days if elected.<\/p>\n
Priority one: \u2018wipe out\u2019 zoning<\/p>\n
Zoning is an \u201coutrageous imposition on the most needy people in society\u201d, according to Mr Penman, who is making the government regulation his first priority if he was to win the seat. <\/p>\n
In Victoria, zoning is considered the primary legal and planning system that regulates how land can be used, developed, and protected.<\/p>\n
But Mr Penman argued zoning \u201cforces up the price of housing by artificially restricting how many houses you can build and where\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live on a five acre block which can\u2019t be subdivided, we\u2019re five minutes from the station, shops, everywhere else,\u201d Mr Penman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could put 20 to 30 units on this place and people could have a floor of housing but you can\u2019t do that. So what that means is the people who lose out are renters because expensive housing pushes rentals up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Penman said he would \u201creduce zoning altogether\u201d just like Texas, suggesting it would \u201chalf\u201d housing prices and lower rent too, while also cutting stamp duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the faults with stamp duty is that it makes it very difficult to sell and buy a house,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you want people to move around because if they can move closer to work or a better job, it\u2019s better for them, it\u2019s better for the economy. So, that\u2019s a particularly noxious kind of tax.\u201d <\/p>\n
Conquering the cost of living<\/p>\n
Mr Penman may be a green thumb but he is a strong believer in \u201cgetting rid of some of the green garbage\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s pushing away from this idea that we can tax and spend our way into green Nirvana. We just can\u2019t,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The Jim\u2019s Group founder drives an electric car, has solar panels on his home and has planted thousands of trees, but he said this eco-friendly mindset is not the way to go when it comes to driving down inflation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to get the debt down. The really pitiful thing is that we used to have no national debt. State debt was totally under control and now they\u2019ve done this ridiculous spending which is crippling us,\u201d Mr Penman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInflation is basically caused by government. Not just the Iran war. It was going badly before that. You borrow and you spend and you put more pressure on the economy, you put people in useless bureaucratic jobs and you\u2019re going to cause inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Removing the \u2018ball and chain\u2019 from small businesses<\/p>\n
The Libertarian candidate has been in small business for over five decades and in his eyes, has more experience running one than most politicians combined. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s why he\u2019s calling for the government to stop overtaxing businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit like going to the Olympics and forcing every Australian athlete in a sprint to carry a ball and chain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see how well they do. It\u2019s the same thing when you cripple business (with red tape),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Last month, Victoria was crowned the worst state in Australia to do business\u2013- and Mr Penman agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these bureaucrats are doing is crippling the economy. You\u2019ve got this rising inflation, you\u2019ve got business fleeing the state. You\u2019d never choose to put a business in Victoria. It\u2019s actually an appalling government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Penman added if it wasn\u2019t for his family and staff in Melbourne, he too would \u201cnever choose to put a business in Victoria\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cNone of (the politicians) have any sense of what running a business is like. No, none of people in politics and I\u2019m talking about the Greens, Labor, none of them have ever had a real job,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey just don\u2019t understand.\u201d <\/p>\n
Instead, Mr Penman said the government should put more focus into slashing unnecessary public servants and giving their salaries to doctors, nurses, teachers and police. <\/p>\n
Heaven forbid the potholes<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just crazy,\u201d was Mr Penman\u2019s reaction when the topic of potholes came up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand … they (workers) have got two or three people holding up signs. Why do you need that?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re there for weeks. Why does it take so long? You look and there\u2019s one person pushing a broom. You know people holding out signs get paid as much as school principals?<\/p>\n
\u201cPut (the money) into actually getting the potholes fixed instead of all this garbage that goes on. You wouldn\u2019t have to pay anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n
To add insult to injury, Mr Penman said Victoria feels like \u201ca third world country\u201d when comparing its roads to other cities. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been in China … the roads there are perfect. You hardly ever see any road works, but there\u2019s no potholes, nothing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou come back here, it feels like a third world country.\u201d<\/p>\n
While on the topic of transport, Mr Penman backed calls for the Suburban Rail Loop to be axed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d stop virtually anything that you can\u2019t get an adequate cost for it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it has to be costed in advance. Get a quote to do the whole thing, keep the unions out of it because they force up prices and just get a low cost.\u201d <\/p>\n
Where to from here<\/p>\n
Mr Penman noted he was boycotting the traditional door knocks, rather relying on social media to get his message across. <\/p>\n
He also knows rebuilding trust within his electorate \u201cwon\u2019t happen overnight\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want short term solution … but you just got to do things and make the hard decisions that will work out in time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will take years to get some effect because the damage has taken years and years to get this bad. They\u2019ve got to prepare to take a bit of a longer term view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of those hard decisions, he argued, involved cutting back on \u201cmiddle class welfare\u201d and redirecting that support only to the genuinely needy, rather than providing \u201chandouts to everybody\u201d. <\/p>\n
Ultimately, the Jim\u2019s Group founder said his political pivot came down to shifting focus away from \u201cbureaucrats\u201d and \u201cthe wealthy\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want what\u2019s best for the ordinary person,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s have a think about what would be best for ordinary people.\u201d <\/p>\n
Read related topics:Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jim Penman announced a run for Victorian premier on April fool\u2019s Day in 2024, complete with 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