Dan Tehan
Wannon · Liberal Party · Australia
“We all remember the budget speech of this year, which had all those toxic taxes and broken promises. Those toxic taxes and broken promises are getting bigger by the day, especially the broken promises. Who remembers the Treasurer saying: 'Reforming and strengthening care.”
“I move: That subparagraph (6)(b) in paragraph (1) of the motion be amended to read: "(b) Opposition member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee;" The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has had a very long tradition of…”
“I think it's really important that that continues, and I hope that the government will support this amendment, which would continue that long tradition and make sure this very important committee can continue to do that important work.”
“I move: That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the member from Wannon from moving the following censure motion immediately: This House censures the Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs for comments made today at the National Press Club—”
“on indulgence—This is obviously an issue between the teals and the government. There's obviously been some disagreement about how the House should be managed. Our hope is that the teals and the government will be able to work it out and that this issue won't further delay all the bills.”
“I can tell you that people will vote with their feet at the next Victorian state election unless this is fixed—and fixed quickly. They're sick of standing on their feet for the whole three hours because of this failure.”
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“Iain Martin, the vice-chancellor, would be happy to take you around and show you these outstanding facilities. They've done a brilliant job. If we can make sure that it continues to get funded, then we will be able to ensure that, right through western Victoria and into the south-east and South Australia, we'll have the medical workforce that we need. At the moment, we don't, so we've got to keep making sure that we're funding the Warrnambool Deakin campus to provide the doctors and the nurses that we need. The second thing I was able to do was take the shadow minister to Willaura, where there is a wonderful aged-care facility—but it needs investment.”
“I had the pleasure, a couple of weeks ago, of taking the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, to visit a couple of the universities in my electorate, and what I was able to show her is what good policy leads to. The first place I took her was the Deakin University School of Medicine. There, they have the most wonderful facilities for teaching postgrad medicine and for teaching nursing. When we were in government, we understood that, if we were to address the shortfalls of doctors and nurses in regional and rural areas, then we had to educate the students in regional and rural areas, and that's exactly what Deakin is doing in Warrnambool. I say to all those on that side: do yourselves a favour. Come down to Warrnambool and have a look.”
“I'm going to take responsibility and continue to drive our higher education system so we have the best higher education system in the world.' That's what we should be aiming for: putting money into research; making sure that our teaching standards are impeccable; and young Australians knowing, when they get a degree, that it's value for money, they're going to walk out and they're going to be wanted by employers so that they have a job. But we're not getting that. I will say this to the minister: if you want to get an idea of what good government policy leads to and what outcomes you can get from good government policy, come down to my electorate.”
“He tells his fireside chat stories, and we find it quite amusing, but we all sit there and say: 'When is he actually going to make a decision? When is he actually going to do something? When is he going to continue proper reform of the higher education system because the world is moving and the nature of higher education is moving?' We need more short courses. We need to make sure that, in areas like AI, we're enabling people to skill up quickly to take advantage of it and develop their career paths in these areas. How long have they been in government now? Over four years, or nearly four years. And what have we got? We're now trying to set up a commission to do this, so for four years very little has happened, and it's about time the minister said: 'I don't need more regulators and bureaucrats doing things.”
“What has happened to that tertiary access payment scheme? They cut it. Now the minister's putting in place a similar scheme, but he cut the scheme that was already there and was already working, the tertiary access payment scheme—real reform that we put in place so low-socioeconomic people could access higher education and, in particular, access those cheaper degrees in the areas where we actually need skills and we need people and we need to encourage demand. That's what those tertiary access payments were all about, and they were cut by those opposite. What we now need to see is the minister actually doing something. He's great at coming up here to the dispatch box, and we all find him slightly amusing with his iterations.”
“We don't want to take the hard decisions, so we're going to get three regulators to do it.' In a sector which comes and says all the time, 'We're overregulated,' you're going to put more regulators in place. How does that make sense at all? It's going to cost $54 million. Think of what that $54 million could do. Just think, for instance, of what $54 million could deliver for communities like those in Cook or Wannon, whether it be for sporting infrastructure, higher education infrastructure, looking after aged care or looking after our schools. This money, $54 million, could be used to deliver real outcomes on the ground, not to set up another commission. What else did we do through those higher ed reforms? We set up the tertiary access payment, which meant that there were payments to enable low-socioeconomic people to go to university.”
“You hear nothing from those on that side about that. We also increased the number of places available for Australian students. Thirty thousand new places were made available. Importantly—and this was real reform, which, once again, you never hear mentioned by those opposite—50,000 short course places were funded, so we started to change the nature of higher education. People could look at doing short courses so they could upskill in a very quick way and didn't have to spend a fortune when they were at university. These are all the reforms that we did when we were in government. They weren't easy, and those opposite opposed them the whole way, but this was real reform which the government was prepared to take responsibility for. Yet what have we seen from those opposite? 'Oh, we don't want to be involved in real reform.”
“Now, this has presented a real dilemma for those of you on the government side, because you don't know what to do about it now, do you? So what you're going to do is outsource it to three bureaucrats and hope that they can come up with a solution because the minister will not take responsibility for owning up and making the hard decisions that he needs to make. Not only did we do that but we increased funding for the sector by more than $2 billion. You don't hear that said much by those opposite, but, from 2020 to 2021, funding for universities went over $20 billion. That was an increase of over $2 billion. You do not hear anything from that side about that. You do not hear about the record investment we made into research. The amount of money we put into research had never, ever been done in Australian history.”
“So he's saying to these people, 'Okay, you're going to have to find me money so I can pursue priorities.' What does that mean? Well, it means he's faced with some very, very difficult choices, because we changed the higher education funding system in 2021. It was funny because the Minister for Education was out today in question time saying we need to do more when it comes to nurses, to teachers, to engineers and to scientists, and he said that what we need to be doing is making sure we're getting more of those graduates. Well, what did we do under the Job-ready Graduates Package? We cut the cost of degrees in all those areas where we need people to be job ready and go into the workforce—nursing, teaching, science, IT and engineering. We cut the cost of their degrees.”
“Can you believe this government? They just try to find every possible way they can to outsource decision-making to bureaucracy, to regulators or to anyone but themselves because they don't like taking responsibility for making decisions, especially for making hard decisions. That's why they want to set up this body, the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. Why can't the minister do the role that the Australian Tertiary Education Commission will do? Why can't the minister make the decisions that are needed to make sure that our public university system continues to deliver for Australians? It's because he doesn't want to. He wants to hide behind three faceless regulators. In the end he'll be facing a real dilemma. He knows that, because you've wasted so much money, there's no money that he can get for the system.”
“I say, again, thank you to our CFA volunteers, to our professional firefighters and to everyone else—all the community groups who came together to help and support those who had to move out of those homes, where relief centres had to be set up. Organisations like the Lions Club moved in and made sure that they were helping and supporting those people who had to move away from those homes. Then, of course, there's the support for those who have lost their homes. We're not out of danger yet. We've still got a potentially trying six to eight weeks to go. But what we've done in the face of such adversity in western Victoria is an absolute credit to everyone and particularly to all those hard working volunteers.”
“That can be repaired and needs to be repaired. The fact that we haven't had loss of life in western Victoria from these fires and from the floods is nothing short of a miracle. That goes to where I want to start today. That is thanking everyone who was involved in fighting the fires and dealing with the floods. There were local heroes who warned people about the flash flooding that was coming. That saved people's lives. We saw, whether it was through our professional firefighters or through our volunteer firefighters, their willingness to put themselves on the frontline save lives and save even more damage to housing, to property, to livestock and to key community infrastructure.”
“I rise today to thank everyone who kept the communities of western Victoria safe over this summer and who are still doing so. We have had an incredibly difficult period since Christmas in western Victoria. We've had the Otway fires, which still continue to burn, plus we've had fires in particular at Skipton, Streatham and Carranballac which destroyed homes and vital infrastructure. We saw not only that but also flooding. This was flash flooding, the like of which we hadn't seen for years, and it led to serious safety issues. Yet, in the end, fortunately no-one lost their lives. For all the natural disasters that we've been through, that has been the telltale thing. Fortunately, we haven't seen any loss of life. We have unfortunately seen people lose their houses and key community infrastructure lost.”
“I have a question for you, Mr Speaker. It's asked incredibly politely. Are you able to review the Hansard for the first question, including my point of relevance? I'm happy to discuss this with you offline, but it is my strong view that my point of relevance was exactly in line with the question that was asked of the Prime Minister. I'm happy to take our discussion further offline.”
“Look at his Capacity Investment Scheme. He's spending billions and billions of dollars. Where is the transparency? There is none. This fellow, this part-time energy minister, should focus on household budgets and deliver lower energy prices for households, because, at the moment, they're forecast to go up by another 24 per cent this financial year. Part-time minister, focus full time on getting electricity prices down.”
“The part-time energy minister is at it again—just splashing taxpayers' cash around to try and make up for his failed energy policies, which are causing Australian households an enormous amount of pain. As a matter of fact, since Labor have been in government electricity prices have risen by 40 per cent. They're driving up inflation in this country, and it could well lead to an interest-rate increase, which is going to put further pressure on the household budget. But what does this part-time energy minister think the response should be? 'Let's just keep splashing the cash around.' And we've seen it now. He's handpicked a particular EV vehicle he wants to subsidise. But not only that; he's done a secret deal with the Victorian state government on offshore wind. There's no transparency. No-one knows what the cost is. How much is it?”
“The world watched with horror what happened on 14 December, and the world continues to watch how we're going to deal with it. That, I think, is incredibly important for all of us also to recognise, because the way we are viewed as a nation—the way we are viewed in how we deal with what occurred—is critical for not only who we are as a nation but how we are viewed as a nation. That's why I appeal to everyone—everyone—to show the leadership that is required to deal with this antisemitism, which, sadly, has grown and grown, especially since October 7.”
“As in all tragedies, fortunately, we also see the best in humanity, and the fact that there were people who were willing to run at danger to save other people's lives and were prepared to give up their lives to save others is something we witnessed on that day. We also saw our police do what the police do every day—just show extraordinary acts of bravery—and we saw our volunteers, who once again over this summer have done and will continue to do—as they have over previous summers—the most selfless actions. We saw that again with the surf lifesavers. It is that good, that humanity, that we all need to keep turning to so that we know and understand that the evil that was perpetrated is a small minority—it is a small, small part—of who we are as a nation. That's why, if we come together, we can defeat it.”
“As we come together today with this condolence motion, we also must come with a resolve like we've never seen to deal with the hatred that inspired it. We have to make sure that we do everything we possibly can—everything that we humanly can—to deal with antisemitism in this country, because, if what we have seen happen will not redouble our resolve to deal with antisemitism, nothing will, and if we do not deal with it then, as many have said, we change the very nature of our country. We change the very nature of who we are. And none of us—none of us—want to see that dream of our nation eroded by heinous acts such as what happened on 14 December.”
“I remember wishing and hoping that it wasn't what it looked like it was: an antisemitic terrorist attack, the worst and deadliest terrorist attack that this country has seen, driven by pure, pure hatred. And to the families of those who lost their lives, I offer my deepest, deepest condolences. Because, as we've heard, there's a Jewish tradition that you should continue to say the names of those who are deceased, I'm going to do so today, like others have: Matilda, Edith Brutman, Dan Elkayam, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Alexander Kleytman, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Peter Meagher, Reuven Morrison, Marika Pogany, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Adam Smyth, Boris Tetleroyd, Tania Tretiak and Tibor Weitzen. May you be comforted from heaven.”
“Can I commend all the speakers who have spoken today on this condolence motion. It's been truly heartfelt, and I think that, with the finest of words, we have honoured those who have died under the most heinous terrorist act that this country has ever seen. I still remember Sunday 14 December because, I think like many Australians in the lead-up to Christmas, I was at a family gathering. My father, uncle and aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces and children were all together doing what I think a lot of people were doing on 14 December: leading a celebration, as we knew that Christmas was coming—as holidays were coming—and it was a time to get together. I remember I was on my way back from the airport when the news started coming through as to what was occurring in Bondi.”
“On behalf of my community and all the communities in Wannon, I say a huge thankyou to all those charitable organisations for what you do. You see it during the year. St Vincent de Paul comes to mind for all the charity work that they do, especially at Christmas. The work that they do is extraordinary. More often than not, their wonderful volunteers will take time on Christmas Day not to be with their families but to go and make sure that those families who are in need will have that little bit of joy. To our CFA volunteers, our surf lifesavers and those who work in our charitable organisations, I say a huge thankyou for what you do and what you'll do over this summer period. Our communities are better for the work that you do.”
“For most of us, Christmas is a wonderful time of year—a time to catch up with family, a time to celebrate everything that's good about our great nation—but there are those who'll be going through very difficult times this Christmas. They'll be calling on services, whether it be the Red Cross or others, at this time of year. To all those wonderful volunteer organisations who make sure that families have got food on the table when they otherwise wouldn't or are offering protection to those who might have had to leave home due to domestic violence or for other reasons: the work that you do on behalf of our community, making sure that there is a little bit of joy for those in desperate need over the Christmas period, is extraordinary.”
“I have some of the most wonderful surf lifesaving clubs patrolling one of the most difficult coastlines in Australia. It's not called the Shipwreck Coast for nothing. They will be there making sure that everyone, whether it be locals or all the tourists who flock to our beaches right over the summer period, is kept safe, whether it be at Portland, Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, Lorne or Anglesea. Right across the coastline, to all the surf lifesaving clubs and to the many, many more that I haven't mentioned: a huge thankyou to all the volunteers who'll be patrolling and saving lives. They literally will be saving lives over the summer. What our surf lifesavers do is extraordinary. I will also give a shout-out to the wonderful community organisations that will be doing their bit over the summer.”
“They've already been out making sure that backburning is occurring and that our roadways are safe and have been burned accordingly to make sure that our communities are kept safe. There's been untold pressure placed on a lot of our volunteers through the unfortunate policies of the Victorian state government, especially the fire services levy, which is, I think, the most draconian tax that any state government has placed on volunteers since Federation. Even though they've been copping that, they're still volunteering again in vast numbers to keep our communities safe. To all the CFA volunteers: a huge thankyou for what you do and for what you'll do once again over this summer period. I also acknowledge what our surf lifesavers will do over the summer.”
“As the Christmas period advances on us all, I want to give a shout-out to those people who'll be keeping us safe over the summer. I'd like to start by giving a big shout-out to all the CFA volunteers in my electorate, who will be, once again, doing their thing for the community—volunteering over a period when a lot of people are on holidays and enjoying the festive season. They'll be there making sure that the community is kept safe. Last year, they did an extraordinary job, because the Grampians were on fire for a large part of the summer. Day after day, night after night, they were out volunteering alongside the professional firefighters, making sure that our communities were kept safe. And I know they've already been out making sure that they've done their minimum skills training.”
“My question is to Minister for Climate Change and Energy. This week the minister said he was 'focused like a laser on energy prices'. Minister, when will Australians see a $275 reduction in their retail power bills?”
“I'm glad that the minister's here, because she's hearing directly from my constituents as to what needs to happen. People's cars are being damaged. The potholes have got worse and worse. Instead of the Prime Minister being in Melbourne announcing billions and billions of dollars for the Suburban Rail Loop, fix the existing infrastructure. Why would you spend billions on these projects when you're existing infrastructure is deteriorating before your eyes? Minister, you've got a big job, but at least you saw common sense on not reducing speed limits.”
“We now need to see the Albanese Labor government fix the roads. They've made the decision that they will not cut speed limits, but now they need to fix them. I've got a few places—and, luckily, the minister is here—where I can suggest that they start in my electorate. The Princes Highway—we put in $60 million to fix the piece of road between Warrnambool and Port Fairy. They did the job, but they only half did the job. Go back. Do the job properly. That will make my constituents in Port Fairy and Warrnambool very happy. There's also the Western Highway. The Western Highway runs past Ballarat to Beaufort and then onto Stawell. Fix that. Fix the duplication between Beauford and Ararat. Fix that, and that will make my constituents incredibly happy. There are numerous more roads which we'd like to see extra funding go into.”
“It's because—the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government is here, and I'm pleased that she's here—the government made the commonsense decision to say, 'We're not going ahead with reducing speed limits on regional and rural roads back to 80 kilometres per hour or back to 70 kilometres per hour.' I've got to say the coalition has advocated strongly against this decision, and I recognise the member for Barker, who has been campaigning along with me on road funding for the last four or five years because, sadly, it has been cut under this Albanese Labor government. At last we have seen some success, because the minister for infrastructure has said she's not going ahead with this harebrained idea to cut the speed limit back down to 70 kilometres per hour or 80 kilometres per hour.”
“It's great to be able to rise today and say that common sense has prevailed. It's not very often that I am able to say in this chamber that common sense has prevailed under this Albanese Labor government, but for the first time in a long time it has. Do you know why?”
“Mr Speaker, during question time there was a very unusual occurrence: the lights went out in this House. I was wondering whether you could report back to the House as to what happened, whether it might be to do with the minister, who isn't—”
“My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The Lowy Institute reports that, as president of COP, Alok Sharma visited more than 50 countries. Media reports that he travelled 200,000 miles, which is the equivalent of eight trips around the Earth. As president of COP31 negotiations, how many countries will the minister be required to visit, how many miles will he need to travel, and how much taxpayer money will be spent in finding the full-time presidential duties of the part-time minister?”
“Not only that—it's going to have a greater impact on people's mental wellbeing and mental health. So you have to put energy affordability— (Time expired)”
“I would say to the energy minister that he should read a recent report from the University of Adelaide, which gives facts and data as to the pressure that is being placed on people, as well as their mental health and mental wellbeing, with regard to what is happening to electricity prices—they've increased by 40 per cent—and gas prices, which have increased by over 40 per cent. This is placing enormous pressure on people, and I would say to the government: read that report out of the University of Adelaide because you need to start focusing on energy affordability. If you keep allowing your minister to be more focused on the United Nations than on delivering energy affordability here in this nation, you are going to continue to increase energy poverty in this nation, which is already growing.”
“Minister Bowen, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, released his climate risk assessment a few weeks ago, and that talked about the mental ill health that can accrue from climate change. But where the government has been silent has been on what is happening to mental ill health when it comes to energy affordability, and the energy poverty that we're starting to see across this nation because of the bungled, bungled way that the government is approaching the transition is second to none. We're seeing that time and time again through reports as to what is happening with regard to energy poverty in this nation.”
“Once again, with this motion here in this chamber, I call on the federal government to listen to the Ararat community and make sure you provide those services. Carly and Tammie have been up here, along with the CEO of the Ararat hospital, to lobby for these services. The government has listened, but now it needs to act because, more and more, this is the missing link when it comes to the missing piece when it comes to mental health services in my electorate in western Victoria. I'd also like to turn attention to what is happening to households across this nation when it comes to energy affordability and the pressure that that is putting on mental health, especially for the poorest in our community.”
“At the last two federal elections, I committed to providing and funding a headspace in Ararat, and I call on the government to know and understand how important it is that a service be delivered into that community. If the government need any advice, they should talk to two outstanding individuals in the local community in Ararat who have set up One Red Tree, and they are working with Federation University to provide services out into the community. Carly and Tammie, I commend you again for everything that you're doing to improve mental health services in Ararat, but you need help and support. I was pleased to see you recognised by the Victorian state government for your work, but you need help and support, especially through the delivery of a headspace centre for Ararat.”
“It is incredibly important that the government continues to support mental health and mental health services right across Australia, and that means out into regional and rural Australia as well and into my communities in western Victoria. When we were in government, we were able to roll out headspaces in Colac, in Warrnambool, in Portland and in Hamilton. But there is one key community which is still missing services, and that is Ararat. I call on the federal government to make sure that, when they're rolling out more and more headspaces across the nation, they prioritise Ararat because the need is real, and Ararat needs a headspace service.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. An energy sector CEO recently said of power price rises, 'I think it's the calm before the storm, and the storm is coming around cost and competitiveness.' Prime Minister, if the 40 per cent price rises that Australians have faced under the Albanese government are just the calm, what percentage power price rise is the storm going to bring?”
“There will be a future made overseas.' That, sadly, is what industry, manufacturing and households are facing today—electricity prices going through the roof and no focus on delivering energy affordability to this country. It's time that the focus of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy went from the UN back to everyday Australians. Energy poverty is rising in this country. We're seeing manufacturing going offshore. And yet we've got a minister who's more focused on New York than he is on this country here—shame!”
“The Albanese Labor government's energy mix just becomes more and more of a mess every single day. Now we've got the Minister for Climate Change and Energy more focused on the United Nations than he is on delivering energy affordability here in Australia. Meanwhile, manufacturers, small businesses and households suffer because you will not put energy affordability first. Last week we visited Jamestrong, a manufacturer in Taree which has actually brought manufacturing back, from overseas, here to Australia. The CEO of Jamestrong had this to say: 'If we continue down this path'—which is the 40 per cent increase in electricity prices that we've suffered because of that side over there—'there won't be a future made in Australia.”
“As a matter of fact, the minister has spent the last three months trying to get the next COP here in Australia rather than prioritising energy affordability. I say this to the Australian people: energy affordability will be the opposition's No. 1 priority because we know how important it is to our nation.”
“To start with, the bit he did release had so many bits of paper that looked like that—100 per cent blank—it wasn't funny. Why do you think the minister is trying to prevent that ministerial brief being released? I have a suspicion. I think it says that gas prices but in particular electricity prices are going to continue to double under this government. I think that's what it says. If it doesn't say that, I look forward to the minister releasing the fully redacted brief in its entirety and saying, 'No, it doesn't say that.' But, if he won't, then, given that prices have doubled under them, why wouldn't it say they will double again? The policies haven't changed at all. They're not focused on energy affordability as their No. 1 priority at all.”
“That complete opposite is hurting Australian households, hurting individuals and hurting industry. We sadly saw this when it comes to Tomago. Now, 5,000 jobs are at risk because the government cannot get its energy policy right. Can I say this: it's not only that they didn't get the $275 right. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy received an incoming minister's brief in May which said that energy prices are going to rise. It said they will continue to increase. And now we have the minister not wanting to release that incoming ministerial brief and taking the absurd measure of trying to stop it being released by saying to the Senate, 'I'm going to defy your orders.' He's defying the Senate to stop it getting released. Why do you think the minister doesn't want that brief released?”
“It's incredibly important that we debate this motion because it goes to the heart of whether governments should look the Australian people in the eye and tell them something which is 100 per cent completely untrue, and that is what Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen did. They said to the Australian people that they would reduce their power bills by $275 by the end of this year. Now, who thinks that that in any way is going to be achieved? It's not going to be achieved, and the energy minister should face up to the Australian people and say, 'I looked you in the eye, I said I would do this, and now it is clear that I cannot do it.' He should admit that he has 100 per cent, completely failed. As a matter of fact, what we've seen through the last CPI data last week is that the complete opposite is occurring.”
“I move: That this House: (1) condemns the Government for its failures regarding energy affordability and policy transparency; and (2) notes that: (a) Australians were promised a $275 cut to their power bills but under the Government households are instead paying on average $1,300 more; (b) energy bills have already surged close to 40 per cent under the Government; (c) the Government has broken its most basic promise to the Australian people; and (d) the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water advised the Minister for Climate Change and Energy within the Incoming Government Brief of 'a further significant increase in retail electricity prices next financial year'.”
“We're getting to the stage now—and we've seen this happen, when it comes to dentists—where GP clinics are saying quite clearly, 'We can no longer see any more patients.' They're basically saying, 'We can carry our existing workload'—but, given the way that this government is funding GPs and given the pressure on the system at the moment, we are not seeing them growing, we are not seeing new GPs setting up businesses, and, sadly, we're not seeing an honouring of the commitment that all that you will need, when you go to the doctor, is your Medicare card. The Prime Minister has to come clean—he hasn't on the $275, which was meant to come off your electricity bill. He has to come clean and admit he's also got it wrong when it comes to Medicare.”
“The Prime Minister talked a big game before the last election when he used to pull out his Medicare card and say, 'That's all you'll need to go to the doctor.' Well, we all wish and hope that people can just use their Medicare card when they go to the doctor, but the reality is that, even though he campaigned with that little green card, saying that would be the reality, that's not what we're seeing on the ground. We're seeing more and more pressure on local GP clinics.”
“I would love to see the Victorian state government and the current federal government commit to that site—commit to building that 120-capacity childcare centre at the Deakin campus in Warrnambool and also put the money in there so that we can do R&D and workforce development in and around that site. That would go a significant way to starting to address the childcare desert issues that we have in the electorate of Wannon. Once again, we've had a lot of talk; let's see some immediate action, because that's what we are really looking for. Another significant issue that I want to talk about today is the need for us to get the provision of doctors, of GPs, in regional and rural areas right.”