Candidate Elijah Suares acknowledged that people might find them annoying at times but said they could be useful for airing political views.

"I have nothing to do with the national advertising campaign. I'm here for the local campaign," he said.

Last election, the UAP spent more than $80 million on advertising, which is widely expected to be replicated this time around.

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Mr Suares is running to end vaccination mandates, vaccine passports, stop "the segregation" of the community and help bring people back together after a divisive pandemic.

The structural engineer sat down with the Bendigo Advertiser for an interview several days after party chairman and senate candidate Clive Palmer cancelled a major policy address at the National Press Club, after developing "flu-like symptoms".

Mr Suares said the development was highly unlikely to change the party's stances on key COVID-19 policies.

"I personally had COVID back in November and I understand I had it quite easy, compared to other people," he said.

He noted that he was not aware of what illness Mr Palmer might have come down with.

Mr Suares said vaccine mandates had grown to affect too wide a group of Australians, not just those who were sick or frail.

Mr Palmer's cancelled press club address postponed the party's announcement on a slew of national economic policies but Mr Suares has started to stake out positions on a number of issues directly related to Bendigo.

"I'll leave that to Clive to explain but for us here at the local level, small business recovery is definitely something that this federal election is going to be all about," he said.

"Victoria's the hardest place to have small businesses. My family has had small businesses here over the past two decades.

"They feel the red tape."

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Mr Suares also supported the City of Greater Bendigo's push for a Marong manufacturing hub, though he believed more houses were needed to attract long-term workers to fill jobs.

That would mean dealing with the city's affordable housing problems - both in terms of people being priced out of the market and upgrades to ageing public housing infrastructure.

Mr Suares said outdated public housing was undermining a transition to renewable energy and helping reinforce social stigmas for the people living in them.

"There are great people living in these communities, but not in the best conditions," he said.

The UAP expects to release its housing and small business policies as the campaign heats up.

The federal government is yet to call an election but must hold it no later than May 21.

Other candidates to declare a tilt for the seat of Bendigo include sitting member and Labor candidate Lisa Chesters and the Greens' Cate Sinclair.

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