Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great honour to be able to stand again in the House of Representatives chamber following my sixth election as the member for Wannon. This will be the sixth parliament that I have participated in, and this is the 48th parliament that this great nation has ever held. It's quite incredible when you look at those numbers—48 parliaments. It shows in many ways how young our democracy still is and I think is a lesson to all of us as to how important democracy is. We should not take for granted in any way that we have the greatest opportunity globally to be able to form government, and that is through democracy, because the sad reality is that, as we look internationally, more and more tyranny is coming to the fore again. If we're not vigilant and if we're not careful, all those long-term gains that we've made in ensuring that liberty goes to the heart of forming governments around this nation will be eroded away. I think that call to be ever vigilant is as prominent now as it ever has been.

I place on record my thanks to the people of Wannon for once again placing their trust in me. It's not a trust that I take lightly. It's one which, to me, gives a great level of responsibility. I've always sought to fulfil that level of responsibility to the best of my ability, and I will continue to do so in this, the 48th Parliament.

I've seen the highs and lows, in my time as the member for Wannon, both on the government benches and on the opposition benches. Obviously after this 2025 election I sit on the opposition benches, and I look over at the government benches and it is quite overwhelming, the decision that has been made by the Australian people as to who should govern this nation. But that doesn't mean that on the opposition benches we don't have a huge responsibility, because good government relies on good opposition. You only have to look at some of the examples of state governments and territory governments around the country, both past and present, to see that if you do not have good oppositions you do not get good government. That is not good for states, for territories or for this nation.

One thing I commit to the people of Wannon is that even though we're in opposition I will be working just as hard as I always have. Whether we've been in opposition or in government, I've always sought to work hard to represent the people of Wannon to the best of my ability, and I will continue to do so, because I see my job now as probably more important than it ever has been. Especially in representing a rural electorate, one of the things we have to ensure is that this government does not get arrogant, does not get full of hubris and does not forget that it needs to govern for all Australians.

Sadly, in the state of Victoria we aren't seeing that. We are seeing more and more complete and utter neglect of those outside major cities. This is to the detriment of the state, and I do not want to see this occurring nationally. Every single day I will be reminding government that good government of this nation means governing for all people, no matter where they live. That is going to be a big challenge but one that I'm looking forward to taking on.

I thank not only the people of Wannon for putting their trust in me but also those who helped and supported me to win the last election. The last election was a full-on battle in the seat of Wannon. We have calculated that my opponents spent roughly $2 million trying to win the seat of Wannon—an extraordinary amount of money. Yet, through fantastic grassroots community campaigning, we were able to ensure that that $2 million did not lead to the outcome my opponents wanted. To those 1,700 people who supported me in one way or another in grassroots community campaigning, I say thank you, one and all, for your efforts. It's funny: I bumped into someone in the corridors today and they said their great aunt is one of my biggest supporters. Their great aunt is 105. To her, who I think is my oldest supporter in the electorate of Wannon, and to all those young people who supported me: just a huge, huge thankyou. It is a team effort that gets you to this place.

With that in mind, I also thank my wonderful office staff. I have two offices, given the size of the electorate. My office staff work tirelessly. They worked harmoniously, and they did a fantastic job. So, to all my staff, including my shadow ministerial staff, for the way you came together as a team to back and support me: I will not forget. A huge thankyou to you all as well.

Can I also take a moment to thank all the candidates who ran in Wannon. Democracy requires people to want to stand up and put themselves forward for election. To all those who stood, I say: thank you for being prepared to put yourself forward and for being prepared to participate in the democratic process. It is that preparedness to participate which ultimately is so important for us to have a proper functioning democracy. As I said earlier, it has never been more important that we have people who are prepared to put themselves forward.

I also commend everyone who was elected to this place for the first time at the 2025 election. I point to the member for Monash, who is here with us today, and say: well done to you and all the class of 2025. Being elected to this place is something which is incredibly special. It's a great honour. To everyone who achieved that, I say: well done.

To everyone who was re-elected, I also say: well done. Whether you are with the Liberal Party or the National Party—like my good friend here, the member for Mallee—or our political opponents, well done on your election as well.

I say to the people of Wannon that one of the fantastic things about campaigning is being out and about, meeting people and hearing about the needs of our communities and seeking to deliver on those. Over the last three years, I was out and about, and I did countless listening posts. We were racking up 100 listening posts a year and doing numerous community events to find out what the needs of the local communities were. As we know, roads are the No 1 priority. I say to those opposite: never ever forget or underestimate how important roads are to rural and regional communities right across this nation. One of the things I have great pride in is having fought to get significant road and rail infrastructure funding for my electorate. It's not going to stop and it will never stop, because those needs continue to grow, sadly, because we've had a Victorian state government who has failed to invest into our road and rail infrastructure. Sadly, what we saw over the last term of the Albanese Labor government was a reduction in that investment as well. Since the election, I have been doing everything I can to make sure that our want, our need, for more road investment and for more road maintenance funding continues. As a matter of fact, there was $60 million that the last coalition government put into the Princes Highway between Warrnambool and Port Fairy that was finally enacted upon; that road was upgraded to an extent. Yet by the time it was finished there were still large sections which hadn't been fixed. There were large potholes that were still there on the side of the road, and my constituents, rightly, were wild.

I embarked immediately after the election on writing a letter a day to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King; to the Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan; and to her roads minister, Melissa Horne. I finally got a response from Melissa Horne, the Victorian Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and Minister for Health Infrastructure. I've got to say, I was incredibly disappointed. She said, 'Even though there are still large amounts of work which need to be done on this section of road, I've been advised by the Department of Transport and Planning that the works are now complete and that no further works are scheduled for this section of the Princes Highway in the 2024-25 maintenance program.' Can I say to the minister: that is simply not good enough. If you do a job, do it properly. Surely, that has to be a fundamental principle of any good governing. So I would ask her to pop down the road. Get outside of your office in Melbourne, and drive along the stretch of road between Warrnambool and Port Fairy. I think you'll clearly see that that response isn't good enough for my community. You have to do better. I hope you will, because, as I've said, we should be governing for all people, no matter where they live. Can I say to the Minister for Infrastructure, Catherine King: federally, $60 million of federal money went into that road, and you should be ensuring, as well, that that money is spent efficiently and effectively.

It's not just that section of road where you have to make sure that that happens. The Western Highway between Ballarat, your home town, and Beaufort, where we've also invested heavily, is deteriorating before our eyes as well. Potholes keep popping up every single time it rains, and we need to ensure that that bit of road is fixed properly, plus the duplication. I know the member for Mallee is hot to trot on this as well. The duplication between Buangor and Ararat needs to be finished, and it needs to be finished quickly, because, sadly, that piece of road had seen growing tragedies occurring on it, and there is no reason. We've run out of excuses. The money's there. We need to get that finished, because, sadly, people are dying as a result of it not being finished, and that is simply not good enough. Not only that: we can then get on to the further duplication between Ararat and Stawell, and onwards. I know the member for Mallee absolutely supports that call as well.

I say to my communities as well that for every one of my election commitments that I made—and they were numerous—I want to try and make sure that we do everything we can to keep them on the government's agenda, both federally and at the state level. I want to place on record what those commitments were. For the Portland multipurpose indoor sporting facility's changerooms and amenities—that's the Portland Basketball Stadium—there was $1 million. For the Beaufort Bowls Club's female-friendly facilities, there was $112,000. For female-friendly facilities at the Birregurra Football and Netball Club, there was $450,000. For Dartmoor's female-friendly change facilities, there was $350,000. For the Warrnambool Football Netball Club's women's shelters and female-friendly facilities, there was $300,000. For the redevelopment of the Elliminyt Recreation Reserve, there was $3.3 million. For the Port Fairy Football Netball Club community sports hub, there was $1.5 million. For the Skipton community and recreation hub redevelopment, there was $2.35 million. For the construction of a purpose-built lifesaving facility at Warrnambool, there was $7.65 million. For the Cavendish Football Netball Club's female-friendly change rooms, there was $1.28 million.

For Ararat Headspace—incredibly important for Ararat—there was $3.1 million. For the Sikh Community Centre's Warrnambool meals service, there was $90,000 for construction of a commercial kitchen. For CCTV at Lava St in Warrnambool between Liebig St and Banyan St, there was $55,000. For CCTV at Lava Street opposite the Kermond's and Coles entrance, there was $55,000. For CCTV for the Port of Warrnambool breakwater, there was $55,000. For CCTV for the corner of Raglan Parade and Fairy Street adjacent to Max Hotel and Macy's Bistro, there was $55,000. For CCTV for the Beaufort Fire Brigade, there was $8,787. For an upgrade to the Timboon Demons' multipurpose netball courts, there was $496,000. For the Colac Imperials Football Netball Club's new netball court, there was $389,000. For CCTV for Portland, there was $250,000.

For the Cobden Recreation Reserve redevelopment, there was $1.45 million. For the Colac Bike Park, there was $300,000. For Derrinallum skateboard park, there was $300,000. For fencing for Premier Speedway Warrnambool, there was $350,000. For the Western Eagles' female-friendly facilities, there was $450,000. For the Portland Football Netball Cricket Club playground, there was $69,295. I thank all the community groups that worked with me to advocate for those funding commitments, and I say to you all that I will continue to work tirelessly to get outcomes for you. I have written to all relevant ministers federally asking them to prioritise these projects so that we can make sure that we can bring them to fruition. I will not stop, through the next three years, doing everything I can to work with you to make sure that we can get investments into these much needed programs, because they are critically important.

I will end on this note. What we're seeing in our communities in regional and rural areas is a feeling that government, at both the national level and at the state level, have forgotten us. We do not feel that we are part of the national agenda. We feel like, in many ways, we are being used in so many ways it's not funny, whether it be for the energy transition or whether it be for fixing society's problems. Crime is becoming an ever-more-present issue in our communities when it wasn't there. The services are not there for our populations at this time, and there is a real need for a focus again—and I made this point earlier—on making sure that governments at both the national and the state levels know and understand that you have to govern for everyone, for all people. Immediately after the federal election, I was on a fire truck heading to Spring Street because of unfair taxes being placed on community volunteers in my electorate. That is just one of many issues which are becoming more and more apparent, of the complete misunderstanding of how our communities work and function. You need to know and understand it, and I'm going to make sure, in this parliament, that I'm here to remind you of that.

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