On Saturday 31st of August we had a meet and greet, a unity meet up at Chevs Performance Centre in Carrum Downs. To help introduce ourselves, both Victorian Candidates addressed some of the Enthusiast who came through-out the day. For those who missed it, this is a write up of what I said: Hello my name is Ricky Muir and I am one of the Victorian Senate Candidates for the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party. I became part of the AMEP because like all of you, I am a motoring enthusiast. Over the years I have owned, maintained and modified a couple of street driven commodores, nothing magazine worthy but they were safe, reliable and reflected my taste at the time. Also a way for me to express my individuality and to feel proud of it. As my knowledge of cars grew, so did my interest in wanting to compete in motor sports. By this stage my family was growing, so the funds to build a competitive street driven car were put on hold. It was at this point I made the decision to build a car as fast as possible for as cheap as possible, for racing; not the street. This led me to our local 1/8 mile drag strip. It was there that I was introduced to a whole world of legal fun. My car of choice was a manual VN V6. Why? Because it was cheap, parts were cheap and they were easy to work on, so if I was to blow it up racing or in a burnout competition it was never going to break the bank getting it going again. Not only was the car surprisingly competitive but it also created a family bond. From my wife helping with repairs, to my children helping wash the car and encouraging their dad to enter burnout competitions. Even leading to my brother being influenced and having a similar project car, which sparked some hilarious competition and stirring of each other come race day. From that point I have since competed in Hill Climb events and built another budget car to drag race in. My future plans include building a street legal car that I can also compete at events in and, I, like all of you would like to do this without feeling like an easy target or to be generalised by the media. I also ride dirt bikes and drive four wheel drives which is where my passion lies. As my family grew, so did our cars. We bought our first four wheel drive around ten years ago and haven’t looked back. For my family, myself and many thousands more there is nothing quite like the feeling of freedom when you leave the bitumen and head away from civilisation to see the flora and fauna, the history, to breathe the fresh air and to smell the scents. Nothing comes close to explaining what being able to access our country in a four wheel drive means to us. There is a misconception amongst the community that we modify our four wheel drives to tear up the bush, this is not the truth. We put in lift kits, larger tyres, diff locks, winches etc. all as traction aids so we can drive challenging sections of track being able to maintain traction. Modifications also allow us to access remote parts of our country and return home safely no matter what Mother Nature may throw at us, therefor minimising our impact on the environment. As a member of the AMEP it is my intention to help educate the public that we are not hoons out to destroy the environment and to also help in educating the minority of those who are unfortunately currently do the wrong thing. In the future I would like to see us being able to work with the necessary departments to help in maintaining our parks and forests to keep tracks and camp grounds open for us all to enjoy. We should also not forget the remote communities whose economy is largely boosted by outdoor activities; from dirt bikes, four wheel drives, hunting, camping, fishing, hiking, photography and many, many more. After all we all pay our taxes, we are all different and should have the freedom to express our individuality. We should not be forced out of enjoying our lifestyles. If you are a motoring enthusiast of any type, I encourage you to VOTE 1 Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party on Saturday the 7th of September! It’s time we had a voice!
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 04:14:24 +0000
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