Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

As regional Australians, we know that you should never have the misfortune of mistaking courtesy for weakness, and that is the approach that many regional newspapers take. I want to read a quote that sits above the editor's desk at the Warragul and Drouin Gazette. It's been there for about 127 years, since Albert Harvey was the editor. It reads: 'A good local newspaper is one of the best public assets that any district can possess.' This really sums up what local journalism is all about.

I want to recognise Yvette Brand, the editor of the Warragul and Drouin Gazette. I'd like to recognise Liam Durkin, the editor of the Latrobe Valley Express. They've been going for 61 years. I'd like to recognise Michael Giles at the Sentinel-Times. They've been going 52 years. Michael travelled up to Canberra from Leongatha when my predecessor gave his maiden speech, and he travelled up to Canberra again last year when I gave my maiden speech. That's how seriously he takes his role of sharing news and events from our community. I'd like to recognise Eleanor McKay at the Phillip Island and San Remo Advertiser. That's been going for 128 years. Those things matter. Those journalists matter. They have professional standards, they have ethics and they take their job really seriously.

We have some amazing journalists because we've got some amazing local newspapers who have mentored, trained, identified, fostered and developed that talent, and a number of those journalists are now working at a national and international level. I want to see a future for regional journalism in my area. I associate myself with the remarks of my very esteemed colleague the member for Riverina in his contribution.

Regional newspapers have an important role. They tell stories, they celebrate triumphs in the community and on the sporting field, and they take note of tragedies, of bushfires, of floods and of natural disasters. It's very important to hear local stories with local voices prepared by local journalists. There are some threats to that. The Gazette News, which is funded in a very partisan way by the Climate 200 teal movement, is one such threat, and those journalists do not share in the same professionalism that fair dinkum regional journalists do put so much effort and investment in. My contribution shall be brief, but I did want to put on the record how much I value the local journalists and newspapers in the Monash electorate, and I think that will suffice for my contribution.

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