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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“Make sure you maintain it properly, make sure you're upgrading it properly, and make sure you're paying attention to what is happening with regard to the level of traffic and the speed in which people are travelling through these three marvellous towns.' The Derrinallum Progress Association has now called on VicRoads to properly maintain the Hamilton Highway between Darlington, Derrinallum and Lismore and to reduce the speed limit to 50 kilometres in the townships of Derrinallum and Lismore. I say to the Victorian state government and to VicRoads: please pay attention to this petition. Not only will I be tabling it here in the federal parliament, but I will also be sending it to the state minister and to VicRoads. There are over 200 signatures on this petition from these three wonderful communities.”
“They are deeply concerned that VicRoads isn't paying attention to what is happening with the speed limit. They're deeply concerned that people are driving through these towns unaware that these are important towns, that there are young children who go to and from school and sport and that it's absolutely vital that these people and families going to and from work can drive safely in these communities and not have to worry about people speeding or about the conditions of the road. That is why they called a public meeting to put these concerns on the table. At that public meeting it was decided to put a petition together to send to VicRoads and say: 'Please do your job properly when it comes to the Hamilton Highway, a state road.”
“I rise today because at the end of this address I will be seeking leave to table a petition on behalf of the Derrinallum Progress Association calling on VicRoads to promptly maintain the Hamilton Highway between Darlington, Derrinallum and Lismore and to reduce the speed limit to 50 kilometres in the townships of Derrinallum and Lismore. The Derrinallum Progress Association is a very active group. They are deeply concerned about the state of the Hamilton Highway, which runs between Derrinallum, Lismore and Darlington. They want to ensure that part of the Hamilton Highway is properly maintained and that proper attention is given to public safety. They are deeply concerned that the maintenance is not occurring when it comes to this section of road.”
“Not only have you done it to families; you've also done it to businesses. Here he comes, here he comes—$275 is the figure we want to hear mentioned, and we want to hear an apology to go with it.”
“Before the last election, on over 90 occasions, the Prime Minister mentioned the figure of $275 over 90 times, yet not once, since the election, has he mentioned that figure. So my hope today is that he will come into this chamber, because we know we're getting near to the end of this parliamentary term, and he will mention the figure of $275 and, in mentioning $275, he will also apologise to the Australian people, because he said that their electricity bill would go down by $275, yet nothing of the like has happened. As a matter of fact, most people's power bills have gone up by nearly a thousand dollars. So, Prime Minister, you've got a couple of days to come into this chamber and mention $275, and, along with that, you can say sorry to the Australian people, because you have driven up their cost of living.”
“Find out what has gone wrong with your dismantling of the 3G network. You told the community that this would not have an impact on telecommunications services right across Australia. Your botched handling of it has, and you need to act to fix it.”
“One of the great things I've been able to achieve with the community in my time as the member for Wannon is over 40 new mobile telephone communications towers. That has really improved telecommunications services right across the electorate. But, with utter dismay, my constituents are now reporting that that telecommunications network has shrunk because the government has completely botched the dismantling of the 3G network. It means you can no longer get coverage in places where you used to get coverage. We've been out right across the community and asked the community where this impact is being felt, and the list is long: Apollo Bay, Colac West, Hawkesdale, Inverleigh, Mafeking, Pomonal, Woolsthorpe, Yambuk—and the list goes on and on. I say to the government: please speak to the telecommunications providers.”
“That is what listening to the local community would be all about, and that's what you should be doing, not trying to put through retrospective legislation which shows that you have made a complete and utter mess of this whole process.”
“Right across the shoreline, out from Port Macdonnell, there was going to be, also, a proposal for this offshore wind zone. And what did the Premier of South Australia do, along with the local community? They made it very clear to Minister Bowen they didn't want it. They didn't want it. So this isn't anything which is political; this is about local communities standing up and saying: 'We want to be heard. We want to be listened to.' I say to Minister Bowen: the best thing you could do, rather than putting forward retrospective legislation which shows how much of a mess you've made of this, is get the bit of paper which has put in place the offshore wind farm zone in south-west Victoria—get the bit of paper that has put in place the offshore wind farm zone off the coast of Port Fairy and Warrnambool—and rip it up.”
“It's an issue which has been on the agenda since last May. I would say to all candidates in the seat of Wannon: come forward and tell us what your position is. You've had nearly a year to do it. Are you for it or against it? Or, if you're going to sit on the fence, why are you sitting on the fence? What is your hidden agenda? That is what we need to know, and that is what we need to know quite, quite clearly. Just so everyone is clear about what we're trying to achieve here, we're trying to make sure that a local community and their views are protected. This isn't something which is political. Do you know who did exactly the same thing? The South Australian Premier. This wind farm zone was, in its first iteration under Minister Bowen, going to go into South Australia. It was going to go across and into South Australia.”
“'Yes, there have been.' Quite clearly, the area in his department which deals with this had already raised serious concerns about these issues. Did Minister Bowen stop and think and listen and say, 'Alright, I've got community opposition from south-west Victoria, and I've got opposition from within my own department because they're worried about the environmental impacts; therefore, maybe I should just say, no, this isn't an area where we should be looking to put an offshore wind zone'? No, he didn't. He, in his purely ideological fashion, just kept on going and said, 'We will ram this over the heads of the local community.' Well, we've made it very clear that we are happy to listen and we are happy to act. That's why I and the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, made that announcement last week. This is quite clear an issue.”
“Is the transmission line going to go through Port Fairy or is it going to go right across the seabed to Portland? We hear absolutely nothing. Does the minister come forward to say whether an environmental impact statement would take place? Does the minister let the community know that there are already deep concerns within his department about where the offshore wind farm zone is proposed? No, he doesn't. So what did we do? We put in an FOI request to his department to ask: 'Have there been serious concerns raised about migratory and rare whales? Have there been serious concerns raised about migratory bird species?' And guess what the answer was from that FOI request from within his own department.”
“It's almost like a drafting race: you go over to that corner and you go off to that corner so that we can deal with you one by one, so there is no sense of the community coming together and being heard. It's a tactic they always try and use when they're trying to ram something through that isn't popular and that the community does not want. Well, the community wasn't going to buy that. There were representatives of the community who met with Minister Bowen and said quite clearly, 'No, we don't want this to go ahead.' Yet, what did Minister Bowen do? He said, 'Well, I'm going to be tricky; I'm just going to redraw this offshore wind farm in a part of the south-west coast where I think everyone will say, "Okay, that's fine."' Did it have any details around where the transition line might go? No.”
“No, he did not. Did he go to the communities and say, 'Okay, we've done the consultations, and therefore we've heard you, and we're not going to proceed?' No, he didn't. Guess how the consultations went? And I'm sure the member for Mallee knows a lot about this type of consultation. When all the officials came down, did they meet with the community as a whole? No. What did they say to the community? 'Oh, look, we want to meet you one by one. We don't want to front up to a public meeting where there might be 200 or 300 of you and where you might say, "We don't want this," and there might be wild cheers and might say, "Well, maybe you should pack your bags and head back to Canberra with a clear message we don't want this."' No.”
“It is incredibly hard to take anything he says or does seriously. Let's look at the offshore wind farm proposed off the coast of south-west Victoria. Firstly, it was going to be around the Portland area. When he realised that he'd messed that up, he said, 'Alright, I'll put it on the coast off Warrnambool and Port Fairy.' Guess where he made the announcement that he wasn't going to do it in Portland and that he was going to do it off the coast of Port Fairy and Warrnambool? He made the announcement in Portland. He didn't even know where he was when he was making the announcement. It was beyond a farce. Then, with the community consultation process, the community said they didn't want this offshore wind farm, and a petition was presented to the parliament, which had 4,000 signatures and now has 7,000 signatures. Did Minister Bowen listen?”
“That is why the minister is rushing around, trying to do all this stuff, because he knows that, if he's going to be honest with the Australian people and look them in the eye, he cannot say to them, 'Yes, we have honoured that commitment.' The minister will make a range of excuses to do with what's happened here and what's happened there et cetera et cetera, but the fact is the fact is the fact—they committed to reduce your power bill by $275 and have not been able to honour that commitment. They don't even have the guts to say to the Australian people that they won't be honouring it. That is why the Australian people have woken up to this Prime Minister. They know that he will not be straight with them. As for Minister Bowen, to be kind to Minister Bowen, he'd be more at home in a circus than he would be in this federal parliament.”
“He is going down this path because he's trying to do everything he can to disguise a commitment that the Prime Minister made on over 90 occasions before the last election—a commitment that now shall not speak its name, not from the lips of the Prime Minister or anyone on the Labor side of politics—and that was that your power bill would go down by $275. And they said that they would do that by 2025. Well, guess what year it is? It's 2025. And has anyone seen their power bill go down by $275? No. What has occurred? Everyone has seen their power bill go up. In Victoria, it has gone up by, at a minimum, $750. That means they've been more than $1,000 out.”
“There has been no consultation, no environmental impact statements, no economic benefit statements—nothing—and that is why we are committed to making sure that that offshore wind zone is absolutely rescinded if the coalition wins the next election. Let's go to this piece of retrospective legislation, the Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. What is a government trying to do when it puts in place a piece of retrospective legislation? It's trying to clean up a mess—a mess of its own making; a mess made because it rushed things; a mess made because it doesn't have a clue about what it's doing; a mess made because the minister has an ideological bent towards a rushed, renewables-only approach which is devastating this nation. Why is the minister going down this path?”
“Last Thursday, I and the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, gave a clear-cut commitment to the electorate of Wannon. We will rescind the offshore wind farm which is proposed for off the coast of Warrnambool and Port Fairy—no ifs, no buts; we will rescind it. The reason we're here this afternoon is another reason why we made that decision—because Chris Bowen has a piece of retrospective legislation that he's trying to rush through this parliament that will change the rules around offshore wind farm zones. Once again, we're seeing that Minister Bowen makes a complete and utter mess of everything that he touches when it comes to energy and, in particular, when it comes to offshore wind zones.”
“We also understand that if you drive on local roads and that leads to rim damage or punctures to your tyres, that also adds to your cost of living, plus you get worried and concerned about your family's safety driving on roads. We will go back to basics. We will make sure to focus on and seek to address all the failings that we've seen under the Albanese Labor government as quickly as we possibly can. We don't want the case where you're going down the street, you're going into the supermarket, you're looking at the shelves and you're wondering what it is this time you're going to have to tell the kids you couldn't afford to buy. We don't want Australians facing that reality more and more, and we will fix it. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time.”
“I say this, especially to those people in the CBDs at Warrnambool and in other towns—those small-business operators: we will do everything we can to keep local communities safe. We now know and understand that that is a critically important issue. Cost of living, health, roads, security: these are the issues that you know a coalition government, if elected, will make sure are an absolute priority because we want to get back to basics. We understand that you want to be able to go down the street, go to the supermarket and then buy yourself a cup of coffee without having to look at your wallet and wonder how you will be able to go home and afford to pay your electricity bill or your insurance bill. We understand that cost of living is crucial to you.”
“When it comes to crime, we have seen them do absolutely nothing to help local communities, especially local communities in Victoria, where crime is, sadly, becoming more of a prevalent issue. As a matter of fact, in my portfolio space, what we saw as a result of their complete and utter bungling of a High Court decision was the release onto our streets of further criminals who were being held in detention. Sadly, we are still seeing the consequences of their bungling of that decision and of ministerial direction 99, whether it's in tying up court processes or by making sure the AFP and the state and territory police are spending time monitoring those released from detention, rather than making sure that they can deal with the lack of community safety that we're seeing more and more on our streets.”
“What are the other areas where we've seen huge issues because of this government? Crime in Victoria is now a serious issue. Do you think that there has been any attention or focus given to crime by the Albanese Labor government? Do you think that they've said to the Allan Labor government in Victoria, 'This is now a serious issue which is playing out in communities and we want to work with you to create safety in local communities'? No, they haven't. What did they do at the start of their term in office? They abolished the one program that used to deliver community safety programs. The idea was that you had a program that could provide extra CCTVs, and extra lighting in local communities so citizens felt a lot safer walking home at night, and the Albanese Labor government abolished that program.”
“The worst example of this is what he has tried to do in putting an offshore wind farm off the coast of my electorate between Warrnambool and Port Fairy. He initially proposed it for Portland, and when he thought, 'That's all too hard,' he said, 'I will change the map,' and he put it off the coast of Warrnambool and Port Fairy. Do you think, once the community said, 'Sorry, Minister Bowen, we're not going to stand for that,' he said, 'I've made a mistake and I'm not going to pursue this'? Of course not; he doubled down and he continues to try to pursue this project, which is fanciful in nature and absolutely dangerous in what it might do to the local environment and to the local economy as a result of what it might do to the local environment. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Yet, Minister Bowen will not admit it.”
“As a matter of fact, it's very hard to know what this government has been focused on apart from itself and its ideological pursuits. Let's take Minister Bowen as an example. What has he done? Has he spent his whole time in the last three years trying to drive your power bill down by $275? No, he has not. Even though the Prime Minister said in more than 90 occasions before the last election that he would make sure that your power bill went down by $275, the exact opposite has occurred. How has Minister Bowen tried to dissemble because he hasn't been able to address that commitment that was made by the Prime Minister? He has gone on this wild pursuit of a renewables-only approach to policy. What has that meant? It has meant that communities have been rolled over in his rampant pursuit of trying to get renewables right across the nation.”
“It's not just cost of living and roads which are suffering as a result of that. We are also seeing it with regard to our health services. Do you think the number of GPs has increased in regional and rural Victoria and the seat of Wannon during the time that the Albanese Labor government have been in office? No. That's because they haven't had a focus on making sure that we get GPs where we need them. As a matter of fact, they deliberately made decisions which led to GPs being incentivised to move back into outersuburban Melbourne and into the bigger regions. We have suffered as a result. What we have to do is make sure that health for regional and rural Australia and for Wannon once again becomes a priority. Sadly, in the last nearly three years, that hasn't been the case. They haven't been focused on health like they should have been.”
“We all know that the Victorian state Labor government is too scared to present the business case to the Albanese Labor government on the Suburban Rail Loop because the whole project was cooked up on the back of an envelope. They will not present the business case to the Albanese Labor government. It's wrong priorities after wrong priorities. What is happening as a result? My electorate of Wannon is suffering. But not only is my electorate of Wannon suffering; the whole nation is suffering. Day after day, people are finding it harder and harder to pay their bills. That is why any government that is elected in a cost-of-living crisis must first as a priority make sure that they address that issue, and this government has not addressed that issue. They have had their eyes completely and utterly off the ball.”
“It will be reversing the cuts to road funding that have occurred under the Albanese Labor government and making sure that that the maintenance budgets of both the federal government and the Victorian state government for our roads is increased, because not only did the Albanese Labor government cut road funding to the electorate of Wannon but also they cut the percentage of the contribution they make to the Victorian state government to maintain important roads like the Princes Highway and the Western Highway. That is why we've seen those roads deteriorate. To double up as to why the priorities of both the Albanese Labor government and the Allan Labor government are so wrong, the Albanese Labor government has had $2.2 billion just sitting there in a contingency fund for the Suburban Rail Loop.”
“That has led to a cost-of-living crisis in this nation which has been felt right across the electorate of Wannon. How is that playing out? You are paying more for your electricity bills. You are paying more for your gas bills. You are paying more when you go to the supermarket. You are paying more on insurance costs. You're paying more when you go into the local cafe because of what they've done to the cost of business. All those things are a direct result of the Albanese Labor government taking their eyes of the ball. That is why, if a coalition government are elected, we will make sure that cost of living is our No. 1 priority nationally. And what will we make sure is our No. 1 priority in the seat of Wannon?”
“Because it is absolutely vital that government gets its spending right so that it actually benefits communities, grows communities, makes communities stronger and benefits the whole nation. Sadly, what we have seen under this government is the exact opposite. We've seen increased spending at levels that we haven't seen for a long, long time—over $30 billion in extra spending. But we've seen the wrong priorities, and we've seen that spending add to the cost-of-living crisis that this nation is facing right now. Rather than coming into government nearly three years ago and saying, 'Inflation is the No. 1 issue that we must deal with,' this government said, 'We will have other priorities, like spending $460 million on the Voice.' They took their eyes off the ball. What did that lead to?”
“In Portland there's headspace, the Portland Bowling Club, Bayview College, the Alexandra Park upgrade and the Portland foreshore. In Warrnambool there are, obviously, the funds that went into saving Deakin University, into Hycel, into the golf club, into the racing club and into providing new lights at North Warrnambool. The list goes on and on and on. So just ask those who are trying to deceive for the facts—since 2016, what has happened with community grants in Wannon versus those in Corangamite? They want to use misinformation and disinformation in their campaigns. The best way to deal with that is to remind them of the facts. Why is this important for the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2024-2025 and the related bills?”
“If you go to Ararat, you've got the Alexandra Oval Community Centre, the Ararat Boer War Memorial Fountain, the arts precinct and the Gordon Street Recreation Reserve. In Colac there's headspace, the Colac Central Reserve netball courts, construction of the new cycling track at Elliminyt, the western oval drainage improvements and much, much more. In Hamilton there is headspace, the Hamilton Regional Livestock Exchange, Melville Oval, the Pedrina Park netball courts and other sports facilities, and, now, we've just got a regional university study hub. Plus there are the Lake Hamilton community and aquatic facilities—that is, the playground. In Port Fairy there was the waterfront development. There has also been the Tarrone Lane Bridge upgrade and other community investments as well.”
“Facts matter in politics. As we head into the election campaign, there are going to be a lot of facts which are thrown around. I want to make sure my electorate understands loud and clear the facts around discretionary grants. What has happened since 2016 in the electorate of Wannon is that we have received $694 million in grants. Now, what has the neighbouring seat of Corangamite received in that period since 2016? Corangamite has received $454 million. So remember that as opponents go about trying to use disinformation and misinformation to get away from that fact—Wannon, $694 million; Corangamite, $494 million. What have we been able to achieve due to the fact that we have been able to get our fair share of grants funding?”
“We want to ensure that herculean effort that has been undertaken by those to keep the communities safe is backed by the government coming in and supporting the businesses that need it at the moment.”
“They love the communities they live in, and they want to make sure that, when people come, they are there and are ready to give them the best tourist experience they possibly can. But that hasn't been able to take place, and that is why we need the Victorian state government to act. All the Victorian state government needs to do is put that claim in to the federal government so it can be assessed. They've done category A and category B. That is a big tick, tick. But now it is the businesses that need help and support, and that's why they need to move quickly on that, and that's why I want to support and commend this motion. The member for Mallee has been on the ground. She's heard about the experiences that these businesses have been going through. I have, too.”
“What that means for business is their normal peak period, what I would call their 'shearing period', when they make the majority of their money—the Christmas period, the New Year period, the Australia Day long weekend period, and now we're heading to the Easter period. That is when they maximise their income for the whole year, and that has just been taken away from them. When we had the Leader of the Opposition come down—we visited Halls Gap and Pomonal—we heard firsthand about that, about how businesses had stopped for this period. They've had to watch their stock waste because the people weren't there for them to service. And they love servicing the tourists that come. That's their pride and joy.”
“To every volunteer and paid professional who has been out there keeping this fire within the bounds of the national park, I say thank you. We've seen periods where it has got out, and the way they have acted to bring it under control has been remarkable. While that has been happening, these tourist towns—Halls Gap, Pomonal, Dunkeld—have suffered. The reality is—and you can't blame them, but this is the reality—as soon as people, especially from cities or from interstate or from overseas, hear that a fire is burning, they tend to cancel their bookings and go elsewhere. They don't think, 'Well, perhaps we should wait until it's under control and then honour our booking.' They just don't do that.”
“Everyone who can go and have a look—and I encourage everyone to do so—will see it firsthand if they just speak to local businesses. Yet for some reason the Victorian state government does not want to move quickly. Well, I say to the Victorian state government: please move quickly and help and support these communities. To know and understand what has happened in and around the Grampians over the last six weeks is to know that a fire has raged like no other, and we have seen volunteer and professional firefighters do an extraordinary job keeping communities safe. The fact that they've been able to contain that fire, to protect communities, when we have had some of the worst conditions you can have when firefighting is quite remarkable.”
“I commend this motion to the House, and I thank the member for Mallee for bringing it forward and for her cooperation in working with me on it. This is an incredibly important motion. It's really just calling for one thing, and that is: would the Victorian state government please move quickly to provide additional support and help to these communities in and around the Grampians—Halls Gap, Pomonal, Dunkeld and others—that have been impacted by the bushfires which have ravaged the Grampians since just before Christmas. What I would say is that people have been out doing their bit throughout this period of time, and the selflessness has been extraordinary, but the time has come for businesses in particular to get a little bit of support and help. The member for Mallee knows that. I know it.”
“It is by making sure you're out there listening, speaking to families and understanding their needs and concerns, understanding how, especially when it comes to mothers, they're not able to get back into the workforce because they can't get childcare places—all those concerns are real concerns. It's so important to make sure that you get the policy settings right to address those issues so that you get sustainable settings for child care. If we continue to see the cost rises and cost increases that we're seeing under this Labor government, child care is going to become more and more unaffordable for Australian families. That's not what we want. Particularly in regional and rural areas, like in the seat of Wannon, we have to make sure that availability is there—especially in those regions and areas that need it the most. (Time expired)”
“What have they been able to do, especially in areas like Casterton, Portland and Warrnambool, to address the issue of workforce shortages and make sure that there are additional centres, because additional centres are needed but additional centres can't open up unless you can get the workforce that is required? Yet we haven't seen anything addressing those issues. I thank the member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, for coming down to Wannon very early in this term, identifying that this is a real issue in rural and regional areas, particularly in my electorate of Wannon, and for agreeing to come back in the not-too-distant future to once again sit down and hear what is going on on the ground.”
“One of the things that the government should be doing, and should be doing immediately, is saying: 'Right, our first priority should be those areas where there are childcare deserts. That is what we should be aiming to fix.' Yet what we've seen from this government is an inner-city focus which has been all about addressing where they perceive concerns in the inner city. They haven't been able to look beyond the inner city to say: 'Okay, what are the policies? What do we need in regional and rural Australia in particular?' That is especially the case in my electorate of Wannon.”
“This is especially the case in regional and rural Australia. Deputy Speaker, as you know, if you cannot control inflation and the costs of business, the pressure that's going to be put on child care providers is enormous. What this government has failed to understand is that if you do not address the cost of doing business then you make life incredibly hard for businesses, including small businesses—and the majority of those who provide child care services are small businesses. On top of that, if you do not have policies which enable you to expand the number of places by ensuring that you are bringing on board people who will work in child care—those wonderful educators who provide that education and care to young people—then what you will see is childcare deserts created.”
“This motion is: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) it has been almost three years since the Government was elected and the cost of child care has increased by a whopping 22.3 per cent; (b) since the Government introduced its cheaper childcare policy, out of pocket costs for families have sky rocketed by 12.7 per cent; (c) almost 30 per cent of child care services are charging over the hourly rate cap under the current Government, compared to 21 per cent under the previous Government; and (d) this is just another broken promise from the Government, that continues to leave Australian families behind; and (2) calls on the Government to deliver: (a) more access to early childhood education and care places to support Australians to return to the workforce; and (b) real cost of living relief to families.”
“It's a real pleasure to be able to support the member for Moncrieff on this motion. Just so everyone knows and understands what this motion is about, it's about making sure that we get more childcare places, especially in regional and rural areas, and that we address the cost-of-living crisis that is being forced on families by the government's failure to keep childcare prices down.”
“Remember, when it comes to renewable energy, no electorate is doing more, especially when it comes to wind, than the electorate of Wannon. So the community has said 'Enough is enough!' to the government. That is why, if a coalition government is elected, we will not proceed with that offshore wind farm.”
“I rise today to make sure the community knows about a really important announcement that the Leader of the Opposition and I made last Thursday—that is, if a coalition government is elected, we will rescind the offshore wind farm that is proposed off the coast of Warrnambool and Port Fairy. The community consultation by Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese has been an absolute debacle for this offshore wind farm. They haven't had a clue from day 1. First, it would be off the coast of Portland; then, they moved it off the coast of Port Fairy and Warrnambool. No environmental work has been done. No economic impact analysis has been done. No assurances have been given about using any local content. From woe to go, the whole debacle has been a complete and utter sham. The community feels like it has been utterly walked over through this process.”
“I can't be there because I'll be running the Port Fairy marathon, but I wish you all the best, Chris. I encourage everyone who can to please get down there and support. I still have my green laces. Get green laces on and make sure you're there doing everything you can to raise awareness and funds for muscular dystrophy. Well done, Chris.”
“This Sunday, the Gillin Boys Foundation's Walk 4 A Cure will take place at 10 am, leaving from the Lady Bay Resort. So, for all those who aren't doing the Port Fairy marathon, make sure you get down to Lady Bay at 10 o'clock on Sunday for a wonderful, wonderful cause. The Gillin Boys Foundation—started by Chris and Aaron and now led by Chris; sadly, Aaron passed away in 2017 from muscular dystrophy—is all about raising awareness for muscular dystrophy. It is a wonderful cause. I say to Chris, you are an absolute inspiration in the way that you have kept the Gillin Boys Foundation going, raising much-needed funds and awareness. Over $500,000 has now been raised to go to institutions like the Murdoch Children's Research Institute to do much-needed research.”
“I say this to Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, and I say this to the Premier of Victoria: just hop in your car and do what I do on a daily basis and drive around my electorate. You'd see straightaway that there is a need for more investment, not for cutting investment. Not only that; you need to ensure your maintenance program holds up. In Victoria, we used to maintain our roads by repairing and resurfacing them every 13 years. Under this Victorian state Labor government and the cuts to funding by the federal Labor government, we'll be lucky to do that over the next 60 years. Let's get attention to our road network now. That's why I'm proud to second this motion.”