Although not officially listed on the ballot paper for Saturday’s federal election, there have been a number of corflutes appearing around Benalla promoting ‘Vote #1 Franklin’.
His campaign manager, who asked to remain anonymous, explained how the idea came about to stand Franklin, on his hind legs, in front of the nation.
‘‘I’ve worked alongside Franklin for a number of years, from his valuable volunteer work in the community to his work in rural farm management,’’ she said.
‘‘It was over a glass of Pinot earlier this year that he told me he wanted to make a difference to the people, and more importantly the other dogs, in Indi.
‘‘All the other dogs at the dog park were telling him to run.
‘‘So we decided to put him forward for the house of reps (House of Representatives).’’
Franklin is the second independent to announce their run for the seat of Indi, and he is approaching the campaign with a range of policy positions, including:
■Tax cuts on Schmackos.
■More dog parks.
■Mandatory Mad-Dog-Monday meet-ups at the park.
Franklin has been tight-lipped on other policy points and, when asked about changes to self-funded super funds, he refused to comment.
On the subject of penalty rates he simply looked up, ignored the question and went back to his bowl of mince.
His campaign manager said Franklin would not be releasing preferences and confirmed he had been fully vaccinated and flea-checked.
She also said although Franklin may have had a chequered past, people and dogs should judge him on his current character.
‘‘He does have a bad history of chewing socks and defecating in public, but he’s working on it,’’ she said.
‘‘He has a few scratches against his name in terms of public engagement, shaking his wet tail on people, stealing food from picnics etcetera, but that is all in his past and he wants to be judged on his current character.’’
■To find out more about Franklin and his stance on the important issues, you can find him on Instagram: @franklinsense_
-By Rodney Woods and Simon Ruppert
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