On Thursday, Mr Blakester announced he would stand as an independent candidate in the upcoming federal election, taking on Barnaby Joyce for the seat of New England.

His policy platform will be "developed by the voices of the electorate".

"We'll be listening and learning and formulating a policy platform, by the time pre-polling rolls around, of the biggest priorities of the electorate," Mr Blakester said.

"The beautiful thing about developing a policy platform this way, is that these will be issues that are shared among a range of community leaders, business leaders and other sector leaders.

"That's the real power of an independent. It's not one, it's not me it's we."

Mr Blakester said that, while he'd worked "alongside thousands of politicians and hundreds of government departments", he'd never been directly involved in politics.

"I've never been a member of a party and I've not worked inside government," he said.

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Mr Blakester has been deeply involved in securing funding for a range of projects across the region, from mental health and education to renewable energy and drug rehabilitation services.

"I know what it takes to support out communities, and I know how to successfully negotiate and work across all sectors, and with all tiers of government," Mr Blakester said.

"In mostly unpaid work, in a mostly unknown charity, I and other community leaders have had a hand in achieving half a billion dollars for this region.

"That result is an example of what can be achieved by being truly independent of influences, other than the best interest of the electorate."

Mr Joyce, who has worked with Mr Blakester before, said he respected anyone who put their hand up to run for the seat.

"I will play a fair and decent game," Mr Joyce said.

"I hope it's not a campaign that descends in to defamatory accusations about personality, which we have unfortunately seen before.

"I also want [all candidates] to clearly articulate not just want they wish, but how they are going to do it. Otherwise you can promise anything you want."

So far, only three people Mr Blakester, Mr Joyce and Labor's Yvonne Langenberg have declared their intention to run in the federal election, which is yet to be called. The government is believed to considering some time in May.

"We've been working on this every day for about three months," Mr Blakester said.

"We've had one-on-one conversations with up to 600 people across the electorate so far. We have a team of a couple of dozen who are working on this every day.

"This is just the beginning, but we are very comforted by the level of interest and support.

"We're starting to get a handle on what some of the big-ticket items are across the region, but we've still got a lot of listening to do."

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