Animal Justice Party Albury candidate Asanki Fernando speaks up

The hotel manager is representing the Animal Justice Party in the election on March 25.

Originally from Sri Lanka, Ms Fernando moved to Melbourne in 2009 to undertake university studies before shifting to Albury a decade ago after being drawn to its river and open spaces.

She was motivated to stand after no female or multicultural candidates emerged.

"It kind of disappoints me that more females don't step up," Ms Fernando said.

"It is quite shocking, I thought Albury would have more females putting their hand up for leadership roles."

At the last poll in Albury in 2019 all five candidates were men and the seat has never been held by a woman.

Ms Fernando joined the Animal Justice Party five years ago when she became a vegan and was looking for a political organisation that reflected her values.

An owner of four rescue animals, two dogs and two cats, Ms Fernando wants NSW to follow Victoria and adopt a law which means landlords cannot "unreasonably refuse consent to a renter wishing to keep a pet".

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"In NSW most rentals specifically say 'sorry no pets' and with the rental crisis, where does that leave the renters?" she asked.

"You're going to either have to choose a roof over your head or your pets, which is a pretty sad situation."

Ms Fernando is also wants to have backyard breeding and puppy farms banned in NSW, describing the flow-on effects from them as a "huge issue" in Albury.

"Local rescues are run off their feet, they're having to say 'no' every single day to surrenders," she said.

"It's not only the cost of living crisis, the rental crisis, which is making people surrender their animals but now the backyard breeders can't sell their animals as well because people can't afford to buy dogs, so they're surrendering their breed dogs as well."

With Albury's Gold Cup meeting on today, Ms Fernando said she would like some pieces of equipment banned from horse racing.

"The tongue ties and the whips are the main issue with the cruelty aspect," she said.

"When it comes to horse racing, why not stop the use of whips and tongue ties first and see how we go with that."

Ms Fernando, who completed degrees in marketing and tourism, is a manger at Albury's Mercure hotel.

Wodonga paramedic Mike Fuery, who stood for the AJP in the Victorian election in November, has been handing out flyers for Ms Fernando.

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