Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's an honour to stand here today after being re-endorsed by my community as their local voice in the Australian parliament. I'd like to begin by thanking the community of Casey for placing their trust in me to serve for a second term as their community representative. Each time I stand to speak as the federal member for Casey, I'm reminded of my community who gave me the responsibility and privilege of being a strong local voice in this place. To represent my home and community in the Australian parliament is a privilege and an honour that I will never take for granted.

The greatest part of this job is the ability to help people when they need it the most. Locals who call or visit my office are often feeling vulnerable and in need of assistance with navigating government departments and complex bureaucracies. Others reach out with ideas and suggestions on how things could be done better by the federal government. My commitment to my community is that I'll be a voice in this place for all, regardless of how you voted.

I'd like to acknowledge the seven other candidates who nominated for Casey at the election and commend them on the campaigns that they ran. Our democracy is something to treasure, and one of the key things that makes it so strong is the independence of the AEC. I thank the hardworking AEC staff for their work in the 2025 federal election, because to vote in this country with the added confidence that the outcome will be fair is a privilege we should never take for granted. I'll work hard everyday for all the residents of our community.

I'd like to thank people who have and who continue to support me. As you know, Deputy Speaker, none of us stands alone in this House. There are many who support us on the journey to this House and the journey to continue to serve our communities in this House. Firstly, to my family—my wife, Rachel, and my two children: I couldn't do what I do serving our community without you. Thank you for your unconditional love and support. To my executive committee, the campaign team and my EO staff: thank you for your support, your advice and your guidance. To our dedicated local Liberal members as well as community supporters who believed in me and our party's values: thank you for giving your time, your most precious asset, to our cause. Our campaign was a local grassroots campaign. We had hundreds of people who gave up so much, from putting up signs in their property and listening to our community and supporting me at listening posts to handing out on election day. Thank you for believing in me and also the Liberal Party and our cause.

At a local level, we made some really important commitments that an elected Liberal government would have delivered. I spent the past three years out in my community speaking to locals where they were, either doorknocking their homes or listening to them at the local shops. My plan was centred around providing solutions to some of the challenges we face in our community. I'm pleased that my positive plan resonated with the community. This included improving local health care, funding for sealing Yarra Ranges dirt roads to help end the days of dust, potholes and dangerous driving conditions, as well as boosting local telecommunications resilience with battery back up for telecommunication towers and generator upgrades.

I also worked closely with our local sporting clubs to deliver the infrastructure they need and deserve. In my first speech I spoke about the importance of community sport in shaping who I am today. Involvement in grassroots local sport gives you a sense of purpose and can change lives. My commitment to important upgrades at several local clubs was about improving and building on that strong community spirit that is fostered in our clubs as well as to support increased female participation. I am proud that today young girls, like my own daughter, have the same opportunity to participate in sport, make new friends and get involved in their community. They can learn the values of hard work, training, taking advice from their coaches—the pain of defeat but also doing the hard work to improve and the sweet taste of victory from that hard work. I am disappointed that the Labor government did not match my commitments for our community and at this point they won't be going ahead. But the need for these local projects is important, and it doesn't stop once the election is decided, because our community deserves improved access to health care. We deserve safer local roads, we deserve reliable telecommunications and we deserve upgraded local infrastructure and facilities. My commitment to you is that I'll continue to advocate and I'll continue being a strong local voice in this parliament for our community.

Last term I started a petition with my community calling for an urgent care clinic in the Yarra Ranges. Thousands of locals added their names, and I stood in this place and brought local voices to the federal parliament. I'm pleased that together we had a win for our community. The government has finally now committed to delivering an urgent care clinic in the Yarra Ranges, and recently I received confirmation that the clinic will be established in Lilydale. It's great that the government has finally listened to us. It's a real credit to our efforts—every person who signed the petition, who spoke up and who shared their story. I welcome this progress but it doesn't go far enough, because while a clinic in Lilydale is a step forward, it doesn't do much for the families in Healesville, the Upper Yarra or other rural parts of Casey. These community members face long travel times and limited access to health care.

What makes this even more frustrating for these communities is that Labor knows our communities need better access. During the election Labor's endorsed candidate said more than once that Healesville would be the location for an urgent care clinic. This was after the Prime Minister and the minister for health had said it would be in Lilydale. In an online candidates' forum their candidate clearly stated that an urgent care clinic would be located at the Healesville hospital. They told the local paper:

Healesville has an appropriate location with connected services and has a huge need, Healesville will be the location chosen.

They even posted it repeatedly on social media, so you can understand why people in Healesville are feeling misled. They were told one thing by Labor before the election, and now they are missing out on the quality health care that Labor promised them. During the campaign the Liberals and I committed to an urgent care clinic in Healesville because the need there is real, and I know this from listening to our community and my family's lived experience. Our community campaign is not over. Together we'll keep pushing for better health care, and I'll continue to be a strong local voice here in parliament working for every part of our region.

We as a community also achieved so much together in the last parliament. We saved $20 million in funding from the previous Liberal government for the Montrose intersection upgrade. I am pleased to see that the work has now been completed and that this important road safety project has been delivered for our community. We also saved $20 million in funding to upgrade the Maroondah Highway and Killara Road intersection at Coldstream. Despite the previous Liberal government committing funding for the project over six years ago, state and federal Labor governments have stifled the project and have continued to delay the project. It's time to get on with the job and upgrade the Maroondah Highway and Killara Road intersection. I will keep working with the Coldstream community to get this project done.

We also had wins to improve local connectivity. Working collaboratively with the Minister for Communications to make sure our community was not overlooked, I advocated for improved telecommunications in our community. It was fantastic that Lilydale benefited from improved coverage. However, it was disappointing that towns in dangerous black spots in the Dandenong Ranges and the Upper Yarra missed out. I will continue advocating for the telecommunications our community deserves right across the electorate, particularly as we come into this time of needing emergency services.

There are a lot of emergencies in Casey, whether they be fires, floods or storms. I want to take a moment to commend all the CFA units across Casey who were commended for their work in the June storms of 2021, volunteers that put their lives on the line in the Dandenong Ranges, the Upper Yarra, the Yarra Valley and our suburban areas to make sure our community was safe. I know and they know that reliable communications are important every day but are so crucial when things go wrong and, unfortunately, they so often do in our community.

I was also determined to deliver for the thousands of volunteers in my community. Through my local Stronger Communities Program and volunteer grants we delivered funding for 95 community organisations across Casey. Whether it was to purchase new equipment or provide training to upskill and grow the volunteer base, I was proud to support so many local volunteers who give so much of their time to make our region even stronger. They do it because they love our community and they want to give back. I'm excited that an additional 14 local groups will receive grants of between $2,500 and $20,000 help deliver projects that will benefit our wider community through round 9 of the Stronger Communities Program. Those organisations were: Blairgowrie House Playgroup in Mooroolbark; the Koha Community Cafe in Warburton; the Wandin Seniors; the Upwey Fire Brigade; Healesville Interchurch Community Care Incorporated, more commonly known as HICCI; Belgravia Foundation, who run the Healesville Pool; the Millgrove Residents Action Group; Anchor Community Care in Lilydale; Yarra Valley ECOSS in Wesburn; Mums of the Hills in the Dandenong Ranges; Yarra Valley FM in Healesville; Veterans For Fishing; Kilsyth junior football club; and Treasuring Our Trees. I can't wait to see these grassroots projects come to life and continue to support our local community groups. I've had the opportunity to visit all of these community groups and see firsthand the impact they have on our community. They do so much to ensure that the fabric of our community gets stronger. In peri-urban, regional and rural towns, these volunteer community groups really are the heart of the community and give so much back. I'm glad that we can support them in a little way to continue to do the work that they do for our community. I love my community, and I'm looking forward to continuing to serve as their local voice in this place. I work every day to make sure our region gets the investment it deserves and remains the best place to live, work and raise a family. Australia is the lucky country. It's a place where I was able to make a life for myself and my family, regardless of postcode, income or circumstance. But, for many Australians, it doesn't feel so lucky anymore. We have plenty of work to do in this place to ensure future generations have the same opportunities I did, and I will work hard every day to ensure my children and my children's children grow up in a beautiful, prosperous Australia. When we talk about our future generations, there is not one thing that is more important. There are many things we need to do to ensure that they have that future, but the consistent theme that comes through for our younger generation is access to housing. We need to make sure that, in Casey, across Victoria and across Australia, we have the opportunities to deliver housing for them at an affordable price so they can start their dreams with their families and own their little part of Australia.

I'll continue to hold this government to account to make sure that they are actually delivering, not just rebadging coalition policies, although, as they say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It was disappointing that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer felt that they needed to run a three-day roundtable as cover for announcing a coalition policy as their own, but, as long as we're getting prices down, we will take that. There is much to do. I'm looking forward to continuing to deliver today and into the future in this term parliament for my community.

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