Darren Chester
Gippsland · National Party · Australia
“After four years of the Albanese government, Australians are worse off and our nation is heading in the wrong direction, with the standard of living in freefall. The heart of the problem, why Australians are worse off, is very simple: we're being led by a prime minister who simply can't tell the truth.”
“This is a prime minister who said, 'I won't BS people,' but in question time we cannot get a straight answer out of this prime minister to any question. The Prime Minister told Australians, 'My word is my bond.' Remember that?”
“We need someone like Gemma Rendell to stand up and fight for our fair share as a genuine community champion. I believe in putting locals first. For me, putting locals first means supporting our small businesses, our family owned businesses, right across the electorate of Gippsland.”
“We need those local businesses to survive. Right now, it's pretty tough in the local economy. We need you to be out there supporting local businesses at every opportunity. Winter is not a time to hibernate. Winter is a time to get out and explore Gippsland.”
“Gemma Rendell is an outstanding East Gippslander. Gemma is aiming to create history at the state election in November by becoming the first female member for the seat of Gippsland East. She is a busy young lady already. She's a farmer, a teacher, a young mum, and she's been active in our community for many years.”
“Traditionally, we've had a peak holiday season of eight to 10 weeks over the summer period where all of the accommodation is full and all of the restaurants are busy, but then it's been quiet in winter. Now we're trying to make sure we build on our winter season.”
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“We know from previous experience this prime minister is very loose with the truth, whether it's on Medicare, on energy bills or now in relation to beef imports from the United States. What we've seen—and you've got to give credit where credit's due—is that Labor are very good at campaigning. It's just a pity they're so hopeless at governing. This prime minister has promised to govern for all Australians, but the one-third of Australians who live outside our capital cities will believe it when they see it. If you take a look at the electoral map, Deputy Speaker Young, you'll see what I mean. Rural, regional and remote Australians didn't buy what the Prime Minister was selling at the election, and there are plenty of reasons for that, as I explained to the House last week.”
“This is just like how the Prime Minister told the Australian people before the 2022 election that their energy bills would go down by $275. He repeated that claim I think 97 times in the lead-up to that election and, guess what, the bills went up in your electorate and my electorate as well. Now we have the most recent 'did he or didn't he' fiasco surrounding US beef imports and whether the Trump administration raised it with the Prime Minister during discussions. We have the trade minister, who told journalists: Of course, the president of the United States has raised it with the prime minister. But the Prime Minister says that's not true, and now the trade minister has had to back down. I want to know who pressured Senator Farrell to change his story.”
“I think it was mentioned once in the entire speech. This was meant to demonstrate the government's second-term agenda. We shouldn't be surprised, because this is a cynical, city focused government which has been elected on the back of deception, misconceptions and the mother of all scare campaigns targeting the former member for Dickson. Throughout the campaign the Prime Minister repeatedly waved his Medicare card around and told Australians, 'This is all you're going to need to see a doctor,' but it's not true. We've now learned just this week that 23 per cent of GP clinics won't be taking up the new bulk-billing initiatives, so you won't just need your Medicare card; you'll need your credit card as well.”
“However, in the seats held by the Greens in the inner city, which were key targets of Labor going to the election, the average number of people who will benefit under this vote-buying scheme is 32,888—2.5 times the benefits, flowing into the targeted seats by the Australian Labor Party. This was industrial-scale tertiary-level vote-buying, with working-class people in my electorate picking up the tab for students who will earn more over their lifetime as a result of having benefited from Australian university education. The address-in-reply, including in the other place, was consistent with the Albanese government's first term. There was no plan for the future of Gippsland and no plan for the future of regional Australia. In fact regional Australia hardly rated a mention in the entire speech.”
“Regional Australians are being left behind by a government that makes no apology whatsoever for buying votes in the cities with policies like the HECS debt reduction. This proposal, which will go through the House this week, will potentially benefit 12,777 people in Gippsland but help 28,009 former students in the Prime Minister's seat of Grayndler and 25,901 people in the education minister's seat of Blaxland. Data from the Parliamentary Library which shows the average number of people who will benefit under this scheme in seats held by the Nationals in rural and regional Australia is 13,384 per seat.”
“We achieved the biggest swing in Australia, a 10 per cent two-party preferred swing, against the Labor Party in Bendigo, and the reason we were so successful in our own seats but also the seat of Bendigo is that our approach is to have local champions as our candidates. In this case, in the seat of Bendigo, it was Andrew Lethlean, a local champion, a grassroots campaigner and someone who is focused on the issues that matter to the people of Bendigo district and delivering on local priorities. Our localism, our focus on local issues, stands in stark contrast to the Canberra-knows-best attitude which has come to dominate the modern Australian Labor Party. Sadly, when you look at the outcome of the election it has become apparent that Australia is more divided now on city-country lines than perhaps ever before.”
“I congratulate the AEC on another great performance across the seat of Gippsland. On my side of the house the final result in the election campaign was not the one we were hoping for. To deliver for regional Australians the Nationals know we need to be in government, because we don't get much out of the Labor Party. The Nationals, though, performed very well in this most recent election. We were able to hold all existing seats we held going into the election; we managed to transition three seats, which is always a difficult task in regional areas; and we came within one per cent of winning the seat of Bendigo, which would have been the biggest upset in Australia.”
“To my staff in Sale and Traralgon: without your dedication and hard work over a long period of time, I know that our success and margin in the seat of Gippsland would be greatly diminished. To the party members of the Nationals, our booth volunteers, our state and federal directors and their campaign teams—all of these people make a contribution to helping individual members win their seats, and I don't take that support for granted. I also want to acknowledge the Australian Electoral Commission, its senior staff and workers on the ground, who made sure that we ran an election here in Australia which was not contested in terms of the integrity of the process and the result—the final outcome and the counting of votes. It is a good process; it's one that requires constant supervision and regulatory oversight.”
“I must say that I feel privileged and the burden of responsibility which goes with being elected for the seventh time as the member for Gippsland, and I want to recognise the people who allowed me to get here. I also want to congratulate all the 150 MPs from across Australia on their success in the election. It's no mean feat to be chosen to come to this place, and you've all earned your space in the 48th Parliament. Firstly, to the more than 55,000 Gippslanders who honoured me with their first preference, I say to you with great sincerity that I am determined to not let you down and to keep delivering for all Gippslanders. I want to acknowledge my family members who assisted me in this campaign and in previous campaigns.”
“If the Bendigo Bank wants to salvage any of its reputation out of its appalling handling of this issue, it will support the community's efforts to establish a community bank and replace the retail outlet which is closing at the end of September despite the Yarram community's best efforts.”
“In my 17 years as a member of parliament, I can't recall any corporate or any public authority refusing a legitimate request to meet with the elected leaders of the Gippsland community to discuss a matter of such significant public interest. Gutless is one word. Disrespectful, arrogant—you put whatever word you like. The community is now calling on bank executives to help them form a community bank to ensure that a physical branch remains in Yarram. We will write to them again on behalf of the community. It's a reasonable request, and any decent corporation with an ounce of integrity would work with the community to provide a seamless transition to a new model of banking in Yarram.”
“So I say they misled their staff, they misled the community and they misled the local media by pretending there was any formal review process whatsoever. Remember, the community had zero opportunities to provide any input and offer any alternatives to a full branch closure, such as reduced hours. Then Bendigo Bank refused to let me attend a community meeting to discuss the closure. I was invited by the community to attend, but the bank executives threatened to walk out of the meeting if I walked in. What a bunch of sooks! When I signed a joint letter to the board from myself, the state member of parliament and the mayor requesting a meeting with the chair of the board and the executive, they refused to meet with us.”
“But it gets worse, because when I challenged the banking executives about their so-called review, they couldn't answer the most basic questions. You see, they initially told staff a week before the closure announcement that no decision had been made about the Yarram branch and that a review was under way, and they told their loyal customers the same thing, and they told the local media, but seven days later they announced the closure. When I asked them what steps were taken as part of the review and when the board executive had actually met to discuss the issues and make its final decision, they refused to provide any details. They said it was commercial in confidence. They also refused to be interviewed by local ABC and answer any questions whatsoever.”
“Now, I'm certain that the Bendigo Bank in Yarram is a profitable operation, and there has been no consultation with the local community about alternatives to a complete branch closure. The bank is claiming it has 'sought to minimise any impact on customers' and has taken into consideration 'the proximity of other service locations', but forcing Yarram customers to drive to Traralgon is an abuse of their power. Why should their loyal customers have to pay for petrol to access their own money in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis? The bank also claims it undertook 'a review of evolving customer preferences', but they never consulted with my office or with anyone in Yarram, and in forcing this decision on the community they've shown no respect for local needs.”
“This is a disgraceful decision from a bank which pretends to care for regional customers and then does exactly the same thing as the big four banks. In the case of Yarram, the bank is saying it will transfer customer accounts to the Bendigo Bank branch in Traralgon. The only problem is that that branch is 64 kilometres away and it takes 50 minutes to drive there even in good conditions. So what about older residents, people with disabilities, community groups, small business people who need access to a branch for cash or for face-to-face service or people who are worried about scams? The bank executives who made this decision are demonstrating their contempt for regional people and their obsession with the bank's bottom line. They should hang their heads in shame. This was the last bank in Yarram.”
“Mr Speaker, I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your reappointment to the position of Speaker. You bring a degree of professionalism, respect and credible dignity to that role. But, unfortunately, Mr Speaker, tonight I get to speak on an issue that is quite the opposite, that being the manner is which the Bendigo Bank executives have treated the people of Yarram in my community. The Bendigo Bank likes to promote itself as the better big bank, but when it comes to shutting down branches, the Bendigo Bank is proving to be just as bad as the rest of them. During the break, I've received a letter from the bank dated June 2025 advising that Bendigo Bank would close two retail outlets, located in Yarram and Korumburra, with less than three months notice to the staff.”
“It's the environmental future of the lakes and the rivers in my region which causes me and the Friends of the Gippsland Lakes the most concern, and the ongoing failure to properly measure, manage and take practical action to improve water quality, reduce the impacts of pests and ensure the lakes are passed on to future generations. Managing the lakes is, like most natural resources issues, primarily a state government responsibility. What do we do when a state like Victoria continually fails to meet its responsibilities? An independent audit like this would provide an effective stocktake of the condition of the lakes. I commend the petitioners for their work, and I'll continue to advocate on their behalf for a complete environmental audit of the Gippsland lakes.”
“The last audit was undertaken by the CSIRO in 1998, and this is a dynamic system which is subject to a range of external impacts and influences. I've previously described the Gippsland lakes as the Great Barrier Reef of the south, such is their importance to my region. Just for context, the Gippsland lakes are an impressive coastal lagoon system, and their value to my region cannot be overestimated. Socially, economically, environmentally and culturally, we have an obligation to care for these Ramsar listed wetlands, and I'm concerned that we're failing our future generations.”
“Key impacts since 1998 include:—Loss of stabilizing fringing vegetation, increasing erosion.—Declining black bream and mullet populations.—PFAS contamination threatening species like the Burrunan dolphin.—Nine toxic algal blooms and major fish kills in 20 years.—Invasive marine species threatening deeper ecosystems.—Heavy metal pollution in the food chain. It's been 26 years since the last audit, and an updated, independent CSIRO assessment is critical to guide restoration efforts. We therefore ask the House to conduct a new CSIRO audit to ensure the future of the iconic Gippsland Lakes system. From 941 citizens (Petition No. EN7256) Petition received. This petition by concerned Australians calls for an independent environmental audit of the Gippsland lakes. This is long overdue.”
“I rise to table a petition which has been certified by the Standing Committee on Petitions. The petition read as follows— In 1998, CSIRO's Dr. Graeme Harris warned that the Gippsland Lakes would be "stuffed" unless phosphorus (P) loads were reduced. A plan was implemented to cut P by 40% to prevent toxic algal blooms. Since then, conditions have worsened. Declining freshwater inflows and entrance deepening have made nitrogen (N) the limiting nutrient, yet water quality monitoring remains unreliable.”
“I take this opportunity to congratulate the Labor Party on its election success and remind the Prime Minister as he enters the chamber that he's promised to govern for all Australians. But, if you take one look—just one look—at the electoral map, regional Australians didn't buy what you were selling at the election. There are plenty of reasons for that. In the first term, the Albanese government cut the Roads of Strategic Importance program. They cut the Building Better Regions Fund. The Albanese government cut the regional airports funding, cut the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program and cut the Stronger Communities Program.”
“In Western Australia, it was the banning of live sheep exports because Labor buckled to the demands of the Greens and the inner-city lefties in their own party. In Victoria, the modern Labor Party has consistently sold out blue-collar workers in the timber industry and the energy sector just for Greens preferences. Old Labor warriors would not recognise those timid souls opposite who keep buckling to the Greens. An Albanese-Bandt-teal government is a recipe for disaster in regional Australia. We need to get Australia back on track.”
“There's only one thing that regional Australians fear more than the second term of the Albanese-Marles government and that would be the first term of an Albanese-Bandt government backed by their friends in the teals. Representing some of the most privileged seats in Australia, the teals have become the Greens with trust funds, and they are waging war on our regional jobs every day. When they're not tearing down Liberal Party campaign signs, the teals are tearing down the jobs of regional people. A minority Labor government dictated to by the inner-city Greens and the teals is the greatest fear of regional Australians today because they've already had a taste of what it looks like throughout Australia.”
“They've seen a government which has sought to divide the nation through the ill-advised Voice referendum. They've also seen a government completely distracted by the wrong priorities. On this side of the House, we're on the side of everyday Australians trying to get ahead. We're not on the side of the virtue-signalling elites, which have captured this government throughout this term. The next election is a chance to get Australia back on track with a Dutton-Littleproud coalition government.”
“This could be the last sitting day of this parliament. Australians are waiting. They know they have less than 100 days to make history. At some point in the next 100 days, there will be an election, right across our nation. It's a chance to get rid of a bad Labor government in its first term. It's a chance to save regional Australia from a Labor-Greens-teals minority government, which would be devastating for our regional way of life. Australians will be asking themselves just one simple question once this election is called: Am I worse off under Labor? Is my family worse off under the Albanese government? Resoundingly, they are answering yes. Australians know they're worse off because they've seen this government in action. They've seen the waste.”
“Again, the affordability question, I see the minister opposite nodding her head in agreement, but the choice question is one that this place has not grappled with, they refuse to respect the different choices Australian families want to make in the interests of their own children.”
“I appeal to those opposite to start taking the time to listen to members on this side with a lived experience of rural, regional and remote communities, because our needs are different when it comes to early childhood education and care. We're fundamentally focused on accessibility. We need access to more and a greater variety of services. In many of our communities, the corporate care for-profit model of 120 kids in a childcare centre just doesn't work. There are going to have to be models in regional communities where we work with local councils, hospitals and big industry, and support childcare facilities being built to support maybe only 20 or 30 children at a time. The accessibility question is fundamental.”
“It'd be a lot cheaper than subsidising their child care. I don't come in here lecturing those opposite if it's their choice to have their children in long day care, nor should anyone come in here and lecture this side of the House if we represent families in our communities who would prefer to have the option, where possible, to look after their own children for longer. They are both reasonable choices with the best interests of the child at heart. That's a fundamental issue of the debate that we should be having today: where are we placing the best interests of the child in this debate? Surely, if we're talking about early childhood education and care, we have to be fundamentally addressing the needs of the children throughout Australia, whether they live in the suburbs, the inner cities, or in rural, regional or remote communities.”
“We need choice in this sector where it may be more appropriate for some of our rural and regional families to access in-home care, which is subsidised to some extent. We need more support for kinship care. A lot of families in rural and regional communities are relying on other family members to take up the care burden. Why is there only one government sanctioned form of raising a child in Australia—that being institutionalised child care? What about the families who would prefer to be in a position to care for their own child for longer in their own home? Why have we got ourselves in a position as a nation where we seem to discriminate against those families who would prefer, with a little bit of help from the government, to look after their own children in their own home for longer.”
“What those opposite don't seem to understand is that individual families, particularly in our regional and rural communities, have different requirements for the early childhood education sector than, perhaps, many of our suburban cousins. I don't pretend to come in here and lecture the member for Jagajaga on the needs of Heidelberg or Ivanhoe, because I don't have a lived experience of those suburban areas. But I will come in here and talk about the needs of my community, where we have people working on farms, sometimes in quite remote locations. We have a disproportionate number of small-business owners in our communities, where you may have a husband-and-wife or family team working together in a small business. We need choice when it comes to child care.”
“I do accept those opposite have worked in relation to increasing the wages for childcare workers, which has been a benefit to a large number of workers in the sector. But one of our problems in that regard is that the centres, where they do exist in regional communities, simply can't operate at full capacity because they can't attract the workforce. Again, there are accessibility issues. I say to those opposite that, with the cost of child care increasing by 22.3 per cent since Labor came to power, this is a piece of public policy that still requires an enormous amount of work. I urge those opposite to work in a bipartisan manner with the coalition to address issues of accessibility and affordability. Finally, I want to refer to choice.”
“So how can those opposite come into this place and lecture members on this side of the chamber who represent rural and regional communities, who live in childcare deserts, who have not seen a single improvement in the last three years addressing this problem, while the Labor Party has continued to inflame the cost-of-living crisis for families in our regions? On the issue of accessibility, those opposite have failed to address the fundamental problem for a lot of rural and regional families. On the question of affordability, another key theme in child care, we need to ensure that families, right across Australia, are in a position to have their child go to a good-quality childcare centre, if required, but also to be able to afford to pay the bills.”
“We can't get them to come to regional areas if there isn't access to affordable child care in the towns where they want to be posted to. I can't tell you the number of times I have had conversations with small-town community leaders in my electorate about the paramedic they tried to attract to the region, or the teacher or the nurse, and the stumbling block was the fact there was no child care available to them. The reason why this access issue has become even more critical is because, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, we all need to understand that the vast majority of families need at least 1½ incomes, possibly two full-time incomes, to be able to pay their bills.”
“The problem with the direction taken by the government in this legislation is that allowing, or providing for, a minimum of 72 hours a fortnight access to subsidised child care doesn't mean anything if you can't get one day's access to child care. If there is no childcare centre, having three days provided in the suburbs, I'm sorry, doesn't help you at all. That is the fundamental problem—the disconnect in this place. We have members opposite who come in here and yell abuse at this side of the chamber, telling us how we don't know anything. But they never stop to listen to the lived experience of people in rural and regional communities. One of our biggest challenges in our rural and regional communities is attracting and retaining a workforce for critical areas like health, education, child care, police, paramedics, nurses—you name it.”
“I fail to see how those opposite can come in here after almost three years and feel confident in lecturing people on this side of the House about the question of accessibility, when not one of them has bothered to listen to the repeated feedback they've received from rural and regional families, from rural and regional members of this place on this side of the House. I see the member for Nicholls here nodding his head and the member for Braddon nodding his head. So to come into this place and have the member for Blair claiming to be a rural and regional member of parliament, when his seat is at best suburban—it is on the periurban interface with Brisbane in South-East Queensland—and lecturing us about rural and regional accessibility to child care after 2½ years is completely ignoring the fundamental question for a lot of our families.”
“CHESTER () (): I do take great pleasure in joining the debate this morning. I want to focus my remarks very much along the three key themes of accessibility, affordability and choice. Across this chamber, I have no doubt whatsoever that there is universal recognition of the value of access to child care. There would not be a member in this place who doesn't see the value in having better access to early childhood education to give our young people the best possible start in life. But the question around access is an important one.”
“It's been an extraordinary privilege to hear people's stories. I look forward to spreading Cycling Without Age Gippsland right across the region in the weeks ahead.”
“I want to take this opportunity to update the chamber on the Cycling Without Age Gippsland program, which has received great support since we started fundraising only a matter of six months ago. As the honorary chair of the program, I have been able to work with the community to raise enough money to purchase two trishaws and a trailer, and we've started giving our first rides in our community for people who can no longer ride a bicycle for themselves. At its heart, Cycling Without Age, across Australia, is about generosity and kindness. It's about giving people the opportunity to socialise. I want to give a huge thanks to the volunteer pilots right across Australia who are giving their time every week to put smiles on faces. Personally, I've had the chance to volunteer to take several rides along the foreshore at Lakes Entrance.”
“Australia can't afford another three years of hard Labor. I'm worried that our country is heading in the wrong direction, with families struggling under Labor's cost-of-living crisis. I've watched as Labor and the Greens have attacked our community with bans on the timber industry and cuts to regional programs. I will always work to protect our local jobs, reduce waste in government and deliver lower taxes so that we can take the pressure off families and afford the things that really matter, like better roads, improved health care and upgrading our local facilities. We need a fair share of funding for Gippsland. We need to get Australia back on track.”
“I want to extend thanks, on behalf of the opposition, to her family—thank you for letting Kylea serve with us. You have the good fortune of spending more time with her. Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether she's a good cook or not, but Uber may suffer as a result! I do sincerely wish you all the best for the future, and thank you for your service to the parliament.”
“on indulgence—In the same vein, on behalf of the opposition, I'd like to extend our congratulations to the member for North Sydney on her service to this place. It's not bad for a kid who went to Coonabarabran High School and rose to great heights. I think it's a lesson for a lot of young people in regional Australia today: to never sell themselves short, always aspire to be their best and try to make a difference in our community. I know the member didn't expect her career in this place to end at the whims of a boundary change. But I have every confidence in the world that, whatever she pursues in the future, she will pursue it with integrity and vigour, and she'll continue to make a difference to Australian society, and I wish her well.”
“There's only one thing that regional Australians fear more than a second term of an Albanese-Marles government, and that is a first term of an Albanese-Bandt government backed by the city-focused Teal party. Regional Australians have every right to be worried about the prospect of Prime Minister Albanese doing a deal with the Greens and the teal party after the next election. The Labor-Greens-teals trifecta would be a disaster for our families, our farmers, our miners and people who work in the timber industry and in our fisheries. It would be a disaster for small and family owned businesses as well. Regional Australians are worse off under the Albanese government, and the next election is our chance to get our country back on track.”
“It's time for change in the seat of Bendigo. I have met some amazing Australians during my time in parliament. One of them is Mia Davies, a true local champion from Western Australia. Mia Davies is an exceptional state member of parliament and former Leader of the Nationals in Western Australia who wants to come to Canberra and make a difference for her home state. Mia Davies has the experience, the passion and the determination to deliver for her community in the new seat of Bullwinkel. What better than for an intelligent and talented woman to be the first person to hold the seat named in honour of one of the greatest Australians of all time, Vivian Bullwinkel. A vote for Mia Davies is a vote for common sense and for giving Western Australia the strongest possible voice here in Canberra.”
“Smalltown Australia needs bigger voices than ever before, and in Bendigo we have Andrew Lethlean, who is fighting for a fair go for his community after years of neglect by the Albanese Labor government. Andrew Lethlean is not a career politician. He is a small-businessman who has worked hard and created jobs in his community. We have 100 days to make history in Bendigo by getting rid of a bad Labor government in its first term and electing a genuine local champion. Andrew Lethlean will bring common sense to Canberra. Andrew Lethlean has the passion, experience and determination to deliver for families in Bendigo, Castlemaine, Rochester, Kyneton and Heathcote. Andrew Lethlean will help to get Australia back on track. I am backing Andrew Lethlean in Bendigo because you can trust him to stand up for his community on every issue.”