During the 1987 Australian Federal Election, while Mel was living with his family on his farm in north-east Victoria, in the electorate of Indi, he agreed to campaign for an independent candidate. Robert Taylor was a truck driver from Peechelba, Victoria, standing against Ewen Cameron, a long-standing incumbent Liberal member.
Mel and Rob were invited onto the Ray Martin Midday Show to talk about how Australian politics would benefit from more independent candidates. The two-party system, both selling Australia off to foreign interests, was, in Mel’s words, “like which arm do you want cut off first; the left or the right.”
Rob struck a positive chord with the electorate, scoring 8.2% of the votes. Cameron continued to hold the seat for a total of 16 years until 1993. It remained in Liberal Party hands another 20 years until 2013, since when it has been represented by an independent member.