Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) | Hansard source

Gemma Rendell is an outstanding East Gippslander. Gemma is aiming to create history at the state election in November by becoming the first female member for the seat of Gippsland East. She is a busy young lady already. She's a farmer, a teacher, a young mum, and she's been active in our community for many years. I want to thank her for being willing to serve and to seek high office as the state member for Gippsland East. Gemma is committed to fighting for our fair share, and I congratulate the Liberals and Nationals in Victoria for their commitment of a fair share guarantee fund, which will make sure that 25 per cent of infrastructure funding gets delivered into our regional communities, because regional communities in Victoria right now are being short changed. We need someone like Gemma Rendell to stand up and fight for our fair share as a genuine community champion.

I believe in putting locals first. For me, putting locals first means supporting our small businesses, our family owned businesses, right across the electorate of Gippsland. These small businesses are the engine room of our economy, employing local people and investing in our sporting clubs and community clubs. These are the first people we call on to sponsor those types of organisations, and we need them to prosper. By putting locals first—shopping locally, eating and drinking locally, and using local service providers—we are all investing in the future of our economy, making sure that our money stays in Gippsland. So I encourage all Gippslanders to please keep putting locals first and support the local businesses that support us. We need those local businesses to survive. Right now, it's pretty tough in the local economy. We need you to be out there supporting local businesses at every opportunity.

Winter is not a time to hibernate. Winter is a time to get out and explore Gippsland. I'm encouraging people right across Victoria, in particular, to consider taking a break in Gippsland. In winter you can get out and explore Ninety Mile beach. The fishing's great. Get down to the Gippsland Lakes, go to the high country, enjoy the snow, enjoy camping and sit around a camp fire to warm up at night. These are all things that you can do in Gippsland in winter.

I want to explain why it's so important to encourage people to take a break this winter in the Gippsland community. The visitor economy in our region is vital to the future prosperity of Gippsland. Traditionally, we've had a peak holiday season of eight to 10 weeks over the summer period where all of the accommodation is full and all of the restaurants are busy, but then it's been quiet in winter. Now we're trying to make sure we build on our winter season. We have things like East Gippsland Winter Festival and other activities and events occurring right across the region. So whether it's Port Albert all the way through to Metung, Paynesville, Lakes Entrance or even Mallacoota and the high country—Dargo and Omeo—all of these places are offering great deals for people to take a break and explore Gippsland this winter.

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