Concordia farmer Carl Teusner will be vying for a senate seat at the upcoming federal election after being announced as a South Australian running mate for fellow Australian Conservatives candidate Rikki Lambert.
The Bunyip reports, 30 year old Mr Teusner was the Conservative Party's hopeful for the seat of Light during last year's state election, where he polled 6.8 per cent of first preference votes alongside Labor incumbent Tony Piccolo (52.8 per cent).
He said the state election campaign – including the candidates' debate he participated in just weeks before voters hit the polls in March 2018 – gave him the confidence to put his hat into the ring again, this time at federal level.
"I'm excited, it's a good opportunity for me," Mr Teusner said.
"People ask 'why do you want to do it?', and there's not one burning issue: there's the old saying, 'the standard you walk past is the standard you accept'. It's not roads or water, or any one particular thing for me; we seem to be tearing up fundamental parts of society to accommodate the minority, and I can't sit back (and let that keep happening)," he said.
As a farmer, an owner of a vending machine business, and an open supporter of United States president Donald Trump – whose inauguration he attended in early 2017 – Mr Teusner is exactly what the Australian Conservatives are after, according to Mr Lambert.
He was particularly impressed with the way Mr Teusner conducted himself during last year's Adelaide Football League saga, where Carl had his jaw broken while playing for Trinity Old Scholars – an incident which received intense media coverage.
"He's a young man with a good head on his shoulders," Mr Lambert said.
"He's shown the entrepreneurship and the willingness to grow his own opportunities in his business life, as well (as his farming life), and those are all good conservative values." Mr Lambert said his party's mandate is about staying true to traditional conservative values, which he argues have been eroded within the Liberal ranks.
Locals will have the opportunity to meet with Carl, Rikki and Conservative Party leader Senator Cory Bernardi at a Q&A forum at the Kapunda Bowling Club on Friday, April 12 from 6.30pm.
(Picture: Courtesy of The Bunyip - South Australian Senate candidates Carl Teusner and Rikki Lambert)
