Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State and Scrutiny of Government Waste) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed, she will. The member for Corangamite has lodged a ‘four-point strategy that he says will improve health services in Colac and district’. You just have to read this to believe it; it is remarkable. He said that the strategy would complement a federal government health and hospital reform. He said:

‘My plan for our local region, and the Rudd government’s health and hospital reform program—

wait for this!—

is about having a vision for the way forward, creating health solutions for our region,’ he said.

Mr Cheeseman’s plan includes ‘strongly supporting’ the reforms, which will establish ‘local hospital networks’—

Well, we will see about that!

The plan also includes launching a Colac Otway health petition …

Can you believe it? His four-point health program is about having a vision for the way forward. Well that is going to provide some solutions, isn’t it? Thank goodness he has come out with that four-point plan! Wow, what a way forward! They must be absolutely applauding him down there in Colac. How long has he been there for? Two years. Two years to come up with something for health solutions in Colac, and the best he can do is have a vision for the way forward. All spin and no substance. And to make it worse, Mr Cheeseman knows that what are required in Colac are better health services. What Mr Cheeseman knows is that in Colac what are required are more doctors. And what is his solution? A petition. Why do you need to collect signatures on a petition when you know what the issue is and when you are a government member who can do something about it?

Clearly the Labor Party is rattled because the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Abbott, has a clear view about what should be done, and Mr Abbott knows full well that the best hospitals are the hospitals that have local input into them—always have been, always will be—but the Labor Party cannot bring itself to acknowledge that fact. But we will wait and see what the four-point strategy delivers.

I suspect it is, as Senator Macdonald said a moment ago about another government program, just a whole lot of blah blah. And everyone out there knows what blah blah is—it is just hot air. It is talk that is not going to deliver. And when the best blah blah that you can offer is to have ‘a vision for the way forward’, to quote the Colac Herald, to resolve the health issues of Colac. That is absolute blah, blah—all spin and no substance.

The Australian Labor Party is incapable of addressing the health concerns of regional and rural Australians. They do not understand regional and rural Australia. It is alright for one of Darren Cheeseman’s factional mates to stand up here and protect him—that might make him feel better. When he rings Mr Cheeseman tonight and says, ‘I defended you tonight, mate. They were having a crack at you’ it might make Mr Cheeseman feel better. It might make him feel a bit more loved. It might make Senator Marshall feel as if he is finally serving a useful purpose, but that is about as far as it goes, quite frankly.

They have a so-called vision for the way forward. To have a petition to get signatures on a document where the petitioners themselves know what the issue is but the member does not is a reflection on him, not the petitioners. Senator Marshall is absolutely right. It is a seat that was held by the coalition for a long time and we are going to make sure that when the people of Corangamite go to vote later this year they are going to have a clear choice. It will be a clear choice between someone who is born and raised in the area—someone whose mother was a representative in the state house in Geelong, someone who grew up with politics, someone who understands what it is to provide local support for local people, someone who grew up in a household where community service and community to the public was the most important aspect that she grew up with from a very young age—and someone who was parachuted out of my home town of Ballarat into Geelong, I presume to get some experience. Well, remarkably, and it gives us no joy to say it, he actually got the experience that no one expected him to get. Has he actually learned in those two years and has he actually understood what it is to represent a regional and rural area? No he has not. There is no clearer evidence of that than comments such as the way forward for health in Colac being about ‘having a vision for the way forward.’ What complete and utter tripe. That is a reflection on Mr Cheeseman’s understanding of regional and rural Victoria.

Senator Marshall is just about to stand up. He will defend his factional mate in Victoria. But what Senator Marshall cannot do is cover up the deficiencies of this member of parliament. He cannot cover up his complete and utter lack of understanding of both the area he purports to represent and the hopes, aspirations and ambitions of those people.

If you want to have a fight over Corangamite, Senator Marshall, and about who it is who understands that area, then please bring it on. I will back someone who was born in the area, lived in the area, was raised in the area and had the tutelage of one of the finest women that I had the pleasure to meet, Ann Henderson. She regrettably died some years ago now and was a fantastic representative of the people of Geelong. She was loved and admired across the board. I will put up someone who has grown up in a household where community service and public service was seen as the number one contribution that you could make. I will put that up any day against someone who has parachuted in from Ballarat, who does not understand the electorate, who does not properly represent the electorate and hopefully will no longer be in the electorate after the next election.