Brian Mitchell, 46, is a former newspaper editor from Western Australia who has been in Tasmania for seven years.

He lives at Pena, near Sorell in the South, and is a member of the Health and Community Services Union and a media consultant.

``My campaign to restore fairness for families starts today,'' he said.

``I am aggressively pro-jobs in industry, farming, forestry, tourism, retail and services.''

He said he supported a medical cannabis trial proposed for Tasmania but rejected by the state government.

Perth general practitioner Tatiana Petrovsky discussed health issues with Mr Mitchell, saying she was non-political but concerned about health funding.

She said the proposed $7 patient co-payment and cuts to doctor training funding would be bad for health outcomes.

She cited the medical publication ?ifAustralian Doctor?nf, which lists a range of concerns about health cuts from doctors across Australia.

Lyons was held for Labor for 20 years by Dick Lyons until he was defeated last year by Liberal Eric Hutchinson.

Mr Hutchinson yesterday congratulated Mr Mitchell for standing, saying it took courage to stand for public office, but rejected his claims.

Mr Hutchinson said under the budget brought down in May, health funding would increase by 9 per cent each year for three years, then 6 per cent in the following year.

Spending on education in Tasmania  would increase by 46 per cent across the budget forward estimates.

He said the federal government had a plan to fix Labor's mess but when asked if that plan would become a reality by passing the Senate, he said that was up to individual senators.