IN nearly 20 years as a chartered accountant, Nick Varvaris says he has never seen businesses and families doing it so tough.
The Liberal candidate for Barton said this was his motivation for standing for Parliament and, hopefully, becoming part of a government that would create more jobs locally and ease financial pressures on residents.
"The past four years, and particularly the past two, have been a real struggle for businesses and families, and there seems no end to it," he said. "People's income keeps dropping, and just when they think it can't get any worse, it does.
"I decided to stand up and do something about it."
Mr Varvaris, 39, has lived in St George all his life and operates an accounting practice in the Kogarah CBD.
He grew up at Sans Souci, and lives with his wife and children, aged 10 and 9, at Blakehurst, which was excised from the Barton electorate in the 2009 electoral redistribution.
Mr Varvaris has served on Kogarah Council for 14 years, and has been mayor for six.
This is the first time he has been a candidate for Parliament, although he unsuccessfully sought Liberal pre-selection for the State seat of Kogarah at the 2011 election.
"With my background, I fully understand the area," he said.
"I believe I have the necessary mix of skills required to understand the impact of decisions that governments make, and how they affect local families and businesses."
Mr Varvaris said his family's experiences after his parents migrated to Australia for Greece in the 1960s had given him an understanding of what migrant communities faced.
He said his principal aims were to create more jobs locally and support families.
"Jobs are very important to me, and I have tried to focus on this in the Kogarah CBD.
"I want to be part of an Abbott government that removes the carbon tax and loosens the pressure on businesses.
"Strong businesses provide strong employment.
"If businesses are struggling, as they have over the last four years, the opportunities for job creation are not there."
Mr Varvaris said education and improving roads were other issues which were important to him.
While he supported the need to redevelop St George Hospital and opposed proposed rail timetable cuts, they were essentially state government matters, he said.
