Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Government is delivering on its $25 million election commitment to upgrade the Great Ocean Road;

(b) this commitment has been matched by another $25 million from the Victorian Government; and

(c) $15 million of federal funding for the Great Ocean Road upgrade was brought forward to this financial year; and

(2) recognises that:

(a) this iconic road is the centrepiece of the south-west Victorian tourism industry which supports thousands of local jobs;

(b) the Great Ocean Road is a key Victorian tourist route which is used by high volumes of local and tourist traffic all year round;

(c) approximately 1.7 million tourists drive on this road every year, and this number is expected to climb as the road continues to attract tourists from all over the world; and

(d) the Great Ocean Road is also an important route for local industry.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Great Ocean Road is one of our most iconic tourist attractions. For overseas tourists the rock, the reef and the road are the three must-sees. So I begin my address by issuing a call to arms to Australians and those planning a visit to Australia alike: come to the Great Ocean Road and take one of the best road trips you will find anywhere in the world.

I speak with enormous pride about the Great Ocean Road. It is the centrepiece of a regional tourism industry which delivers $2.1 billion to the Australian economy, it supports thousands of local jobs and it is of enormous historical significance. And let us not forget the importance of tourism to our national economy: tourism is our largest services export, with international visitor consumption of $26 billion—representing over eight per cent of total Australian exports.

The Great Ocean Road is the world's largest war memorial. As I noted in my first speech in this place, it is a road which begins in Torquay and weaves its way past magnificent surfing beaches, including the iconic Bells Beach, national parks, rugged sandstone and limestone cliffs, white beaches and through vibrant coastal communities—places like Anglesea, Aireys Inlet, Lorne and Apollo Bay—to Cape Otway and beyond, all the way to the Twelve Apostles. It is a journey made possible by the sweat and toil of the returned soldiers of the Great War who built this iconic road between 1919 and 1932.

These days, 1.7 million tourists travel the Great Ocean Road each year. It has a special place in my own life. Every Easter, as a young family, we would make the trek down the Great Ocean Road to stay in the Wye River caravan park. There we would camp by the river and eat more Easter eggs than desirable, which made the trip home along that windy road particularly perilous. Much of the Great Ocean Road winds along the coast in my electorate of Corangamite, perhaps the most beautiful electorate in the country.

It was also with great pride that our government committed $25 million to the upgrade of the Great Ocean Road, matched by another $25 million from the Victorian government. This is not just an investment in tourism but in jobs, road safety and our regional economy. That is why building the roads of the 21st century—the infrastructure of the future—is so important. Over five years, this upgrade will fund important maintenance works: road surface maintenance; improvements to roadside cuttings and drainage; restoration of structures such as bridges, culverts and retaining walls; and resurfacing. These are basic but vitally important works.

On this point, I must pay credit to the G21 Geelong Region Alliance, which led the campaign to upgrade the road—the OMGreatOceanRoad! campaign. The five councils represented by G21, the G21 board and particularly the CEO, Elaine Carbines, all played an important role. The upgrade garnered widespread support from business, local residents and, importantly, local tourism bodies led by the likes of Roger Grant and Rex Brown. They understood how important this was to our regional economy.

Unfortunately the only ones against the upgrade were the Labor Party and the former member for Corangamite, Darren Cheeseman. It was one thing to be against it, but Labor ran a dishonest and deceitful campaign in an attempt to score cheap political points. Mr Cheeseman claimed, incredibly, that the Liberals were planning to dynamite the cliff tops to prevent rockfalls and widen the road. I particularly draw your attention to a story in the Geelong Independent on 26 July 2013: 'Liberals to 'dynamite' Ocean Road, says MP.' Mr Cheeseman also falsely claimed we were planning to build a four-lane freight highway. This level of dishonesty was unfortunately characteristic of the sort of campaign that Labor ran in Corangamite and, frankly, I was shocked. So were many community leaders who were stunned by the antics of their then local federal member of parliament.

In arguing the federal government should play no role in maintaining or investing in the Great Ocean Road, Darren Cheeseman failed to stand up for his community and federal Labor turned its back on one of the nation's most important tourism attractions. The road is listed on the National Heritage register and that is important. But, again, we saw Labor fall down badly over its campaign to include the road on the World Heritage List. Labor did not do some basic research: under the current criteria, an operational road would not be eligible.

As a strong local voice, I fought very hard for this funding, as did my good friend the member for Wannon—Wannon, of course, being the home of the Twelve Apostles—and it was with great pride that we joined the Prime Minister and the Victorian Minister for Roads, Terry Mulder, to announce our $50 million election commitment last August. Work is already underway to deliver on this important commitment. I took part in a range of community consultation sessions in Anglesea, Lorne and Apollo Bay, and they were incredibly important opportunities for our community and the vital communities along the coast to have their say—to give their input and provide their feedback on the works they want to see on the Great Ocean Road. We have ensured that $15 million of federal funding for the upgrade was brought forward to this financial year. Again, this is symbolic of our commitment—that we are getting on with the job.

On 1 December last year, the Victorian Minister for Roads and I announced a $1.2 million upgrade along a two-kilometre stretch of road in Lorne, between Stony Creek and the roundabout at Deans Marsh Road. Then, on 16 December, Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited Anglesea to announce a $1.8 million upgrade in that town. My friend the member for Wannon has also made an announcement in his electorate—again, a very strong reminder that, having made this commitment, we are getting on with the job of delivering and we are doing it now.

Our commitment to the Great Ocean Road is just part of the story. In conjunction with the state government, the work is underway to duplicate the Princes Highway between Waurn Ponds and Winchelsea, a $171 million project, and the vital planning is underway to duplicate the next section of the Princes Highway, a $515 million project. The duplication of the Princes Highway is incredibly important for our region. It will drive economic prosperity and business confidence, and it will link the towns of Winchelsea, Birregurra, Colac and beyond. Mr Deputy Speaker Kelly, you might remember a number of years ago the then opposition leader, Mr Abbott, visiting that stretch of road and having a very near call. There are many very tragic stories about that road. I am incredibly proud of our commitment to duplicating that road.

Our government has also committed $1.5 billion to Melbourne's East West Link, a critically important project for south-west Victoria. This will open up south-west Victoria, addressing the quagmire that commuters in Geelong are currently facing when they try to reach Melbourne and they come to what is no less than a car park in the lead-up to the West Gate Bridge. So it is a very important infrastructure project for our region and one that, very unfortunately, Labor is opposing. The federal government, led by our infrastructure Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, is getting on with the important job of building the roads of the 21st century. I commend this motion to the House.

Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can agree with the member for Corangamite on one or two things. I agree that the Great Ocean Road is a beautiful stretch of highway. I have travelled it many times myself on pushbike. As I was riding my bike around Australia, I found the Great Ocean Road a little bit wet in part but a fantastic place to tour through. I have also travelled it by bus and car. I have concluded from those experiences that it is almost as nice as Lawrence Hargrave Drive, which runs through the electorate of my colleague the member for Cunningham and terminates somewhere near my electorate of Throsby on the South Coast of New South Wales. It is a beautiful stretch of road. The Great Ocean Road is almost as nice as Lawrence Hargrave Drive, and indeed it has many things in common with Lawrence Hargrave Drive, being a beautiful stretch of road that hugs the cliffs alongside the ocean.

We have absolutely no difference of opinion when it comes to the fact that this is one of Australia's great assets. Literally millions of Australians have driven and, like me, cycled along the road and stopped at the regional towns along the way for a bit of respite. I am pleased that this government recognises the importance of this road, as Labor always has.

I also think it is pretty good that the coalition actually have an infrastructure project in regional Australia that they are willing to back, because such projects are few and far between. You have to ask yourself: what is going on? What special thing singles out this particular piece of infrastructure in regional Victoria from all the others that speaker after speaker have got up recently to talk about, saying, 'We'd love to fund this project but there's no dough'? We recently heard the member for Wannon and the member for McMillan get up and say, 'I've got a shopping list of projects but unfortunately my side won't fund them because we've got no dough.'

The difference is this: the Victorian government is going to an election this year, on 26 November. What we are seeing in this motion is a celebration of a $25 million electoral bailout for a struggling Premier. That is what we are seeing. I see the member for Wannon here. He finds it hard to cover up his smile because he knows that this is absolutely true. Indeed, when the Premier of Victoria lodges his electoral declaration in December this year, there will be one very big line item: a donation from Tony Abbott to the tune of $25 million to help his struggling government get across the line. That is what this is. This is an electoral bailout for a struggling Victorian government—nothing more and nothing less.

Mr Tehan interjecting—

Yes, it is a worthy project, but it is no less worthy than many of the projects that have been canned—and I see a prominent member of the National Party in the chamber—in your very own electorates, which you will not get up and fight for.

On this side of the House, we think it is important that you keep this important, iconic road in good nick, but we are more than a little bit suspicious about the motives that have picked out this project, at this point in time, for a $25 million fill-up whilst ignoring literally dozens and dozens of excellent projects in other electorates around the country. It is a $25 million electoral bailout for Denis Napthine—nothing more and nothing less. We see that the government in its first few months have cut literally millions of dollars out of regional Victorian communities dotted throughout regional Victoria. I think, for example, of the Emerald Tourist Railway, affectionately known to many of us as Puffing Billy. Perhaps if they called it Puffing Freddo Frog and dipped it in chocolate it might be a little bit more successful in gaining funding, because when the Prime Minister was in Tasmania he was more than willing to throw some money at some tourist infrastructure down there, being that multinational-owned Cadburys confectionery factory, claiming that the reason he was doing that was that it was an important tourist icon. The Emerald Tourist Railway will be very disappointed to know that the $3 million which had been granted to their Puffing Billy railway, as an important tourist attraction, has been withdrawn. If only it were the Freddo Frog railway, it might have got that funding.

While we are talking about the Great Ocean Road, can I talk about Torquay, on the Great Ocean Road. I have spent a number of nights at Torquay. It is a beautiful place. I know that the people in the town of Torquay are crying out for community infrastructure, including the Torquay North Family and Children's Community Centre, a $6.5 million project that had attracted funding from the federal government, only to have that funding withdrawn. If we are to believe those opposite, it was because there was no dough available, and yet we see the government able to bring forward over $15 million and $25 million to fund this project. I do not cavil with the project; I query the motivation for doing it now.

One of the joys of travelling along the Great Ocean Road is stopping at the country towns along the way. Just outside Geelong there is a little town called Leopold, of 13,000 people. There is no community hall there, so the football and netball club take on that role. The member for Corio, a great champion for his community, has recently spoken in this House about sports facilities there that have not been updated since the 1970s. They were due to receive over half a million dollars for a new netball facility. Unfortunately, with the election of the coalition government, that funding has been axed—a community along the Great Ocean Road that has not received the priority that it deserves. A family touring through Geelong might like to get out and go for a bike ride, as I enjoy doing, and they might be interested to know that there had been a proposal for a new million-dollar cycleway project out of Geelong. We promised to fund it. It was supported by the member for Corio and the former member for Corangamite but unfortunately not by the current member for Corangamite, the mover of this motion, and that funding has been withdrawn.

Whilst there is much to celebrate in the grant of funds—under suspicious circumstances—for the upgrade of the Great Ocean Road, there are many communities along the Great Ocean Road and throughout regional Victoria that are not enjoying the same largesse. The member for Bendigo is in the chamber at the moment, and I really hope that she has something to say on this important motion, because I know that she has experiences that the House needs to hear about to do with the failure of both the Victorian and the Commonwealth governments to support worthy and important infrastructure projects in her electorate.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you would have thought that a member of the government might be a little bit timid to stand in this place and talk about an infrastructure project, given the woeful history that the coalition have had in government. When we came into government, Australia was ranked 20th out of 25 for the government's commitment to infrastructure and infrastructure investment. That is right: 20th out of 25. When we left office last year, we were ranked No. 1. The coalition would not have even made it to an Olympic Games at the conclusion of their term in office. They would not have even been in the reserve pack. But when we were there it was gold medals for our contribution to plugging the infrastructure gap left by those opposite.

The member for Corangamite was proud to talk about many of the coalition's infrastructure commitments. She had nothing to say about the $1.5 billion fillip from the Commonwealth government for the WestConnex project. They have lectured us up hill and down dale about the importance of cost-benefit analyses. There was not one cost-benefit analysis for that $1.5 billion worth of Commonwealth money. While you are all there weeping on that side of the chamber about there being no dough in the bank to fund your important projects, you have got your priorities wrong.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great delight that I rise this morning to support my friend and colleague the member for Corangamite and commend her on what is an excellent motion. It is a motion about how the Abbott government is delivering for regional and rural Australia and how it is delivering by co-investing with the Victorian government, the Napthine government, in a major project which will deliver real economic benefits to the state of Victoria and to the nation as a whole.

The private member's motion that went before this one was just about politics and playing games. It was actually shameful. This motion is about this government delivering for our communities. I commend Prime Minister Tony Abbott for setting out to become the infrastructure Prime Minister. He wants to make sure that that is one of his key legacies, and this commitment to the Great Ocean Road will help him to achieve that legacy.

The Great Ocean Road is iconic. There is no other way of describing it. It carries 1.7 million tourists a year, and with those tourists comes an economic contribution to the state of Victoria and to the nation. The Great Ocean Road sustains 10,000 jobs and is the centrepiece of a $2.1 billion regional tourism industry. So this money is being well spent. It shows that the member for Corangamite knows her priorities. She knows that the Great Ocean Road is a strategic asset to her electorate, just as I know that the Great Ocean Road is a strategic asset for my electorate. It was with great pleasure I heard that the Abbott government, as soon as it was elected, thought so much of this commitment that it brought $15 million of the funding forward to this financial year. Already the member for Corangamite has been out announcing where the much-needed stretch of road will be fixed. I, too, have joined with the Premier of Victoria in announcing the much-needed repair of the road near the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory. That factory is key to our local dairy industry. It provides significant income to our region, to our state and to the nation.

I find it strange that those opposite will not wholeheartedly get behind this motion: $25 million from the Victorian government will be matched by $25 million from the federal government to ensure that this iconic landmark will continue to deliver tourists safely to the Twelve Apostles and to other locations and to ensure that it will carry the freight, in particular dairy freight, which makes Victoria such an economic contributor. It also will carry the mums and dads and it will carry children safely to and from school and from sporting events. This is money well spent. This is an election commitment which, had the Labor Party done their due diligence, Labor would have wholeheartedly supported in the lead-up to the last election. We would not have seen scaremongering and fearmongering from those opposite on this project about blowing up this iconic road. It was shameful. I wholeheartedly support the motion by the member for Corangamite. It is an excellent motion because it reminds people that the Abbott government is hell-bent on delivering the infrastructure that this nation needs.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I find the motion by the member for Corangamite quite amusing. It appears to be an almost desperate attempt to lock in the government to funding a project in the next federal budget. Clearly the member for Corangamite doubts whether her government will deliver the funding for this project in the next budget. She has taken the unprecedented step of congratulating the government and herself before the funding for this project has even been allocated. Why else would the member for Corangamite be congratulating the government before the May budget and before funding has been allocated to this project? The fact is, until funding has been allocated in the budget or otherwise, this project is still an election promise. Given the number of the government's already broken election promises, I can understand why the member for Corangamite is nervous.

I, too, am nervous about an election promise made in my electorate. During the recent federal election, the coalition promised $45 million to upgrade the Calder Highway alternative interchange at Ravenswood, an election promise from Labor, which they matched. Oddly, it was not the then shadow minister responsible for infrastructure who attended the announcement; it was not the shadow minister for regional development; it was not the shadow minister for finance, the shadow Treasurer—someone responsible for allocated funding—or the opposition leader. In fact, it was not anybody in the opposition executive who had anything to do with infrastructure and roads expenditure for regional Australia. It was the opposition spokesperson for employment and industrial relations, Senator Abetz, who made this announcement. This raises the question: how serious was the then coalition—then in opposition, today in government—about keeping their election promise to fund the upgrade of the Ravenswood interchange when they sent along to the announcement somebody who had absolutely nothing to do with infrastructure funding?

This project has moved from being a key priority to being an urgent priority. This intersection is a black spot. Only last week VicRoads announced urgent safety measures to be introduced at this dangerous intersection. The speed limit on the Calder Highway will be lowered in this section from 100 kilometres to 80 kilometres per hour. There is a concerning pattern of crashes and near misses occurring at the site. That is why this upgrade has moved from being a key issue to being an urgent issue. Upgrading the interchange will make it safer for the thousands of motorists and truck drivers who travel from Melbourne to Bendigo and to Mildura every day. I have been a fierce advocate for the Ravenswood upgrade project, as has my state Labor counterpart. Like many, we have been waiting for the state coalition government to complete the planning required by the federal government and Infrastructure Australia to fund and complete the project.

In 2010, the former state Labor government pledged funding to start the necessary planning work. Disappointingly, when Labor made the commitment, there was not one skerrick of support from the then state Liberal-National Party coalition. After being elected, they have continued to drag their feet. Years and years later they have created a crisis by not acting to get the planning done.

At a state or federal government level, only Labor can be trusted to deliver vital infrastructure funding to regional Victoria. I was pleased to join with former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the Hon. Anthony Albanese, back in August to announce the former government's commitment to this project. It is only Labor that commit to funding these projects and it is only Labor that deliver these projects. That is why the Labor government's legacy to the current government sees us at the top of the ranking, as No. 1 in the world for infrastructure funding.

Since the election of the Victorian state coalition, this project has continued to sit in the too-hard basket. The government of the day have dragged their feet and because of this delay they have put safety at risk. Knowing how urgent this project is, I continue to lobby to meet with VicRoads in the area and to get a briefing on this project. But the state minister has denied me a meeting with the local representatives to find out more. What have the government got to hide? Let us hope that the governments act and commit to their promises. (Time expired)

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for La Trobe.

Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and can I congratulate you on your appointment as deputy speaker. Can I also congratulate the member for Corangamite, who has been a fantastic ambassador for her electorate. This is a fantastic motion that supports her local residents and acknowledges the importance of the Great Ocean Road. I also acknowledge the great work by the member for Wannon, who also has the guardianship of the Great Ocean Road and in particular the Twelve Apostles. As a Victorian, I am very proud of the Abbott government's commitment to the Great Ocean Road. The Prime Minister said he wants to be known as a Prime Minister who builds infrastructure and he is certainly living up to that title. People from around Australia and around the world, and from my electorate of La Trobe, love travelling down the Great Ocean Road. It is a beautiful road with the ocean alongside it.

The Great Ocean Road is the longest war memorial in the world, having been cut out of the cliffs by returned soldiers from the Great War. What a truly inspiring effort by those returned soldiers, and that is what also makes this road so significant. It is one of the most spectacular coastal drives in the world. It is a jewel in the crown for Victoria, attracting seven million tourists each year. And I must give the La Trobe electorate a plug, in particular that Dandenong Ranges, which is also a fantastic tourist destination. Five thousand people travel along parts of the Great Ocean Road each day. That is why I was so pleased in August last year to hear the then opposition leader and now Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaking from Anglesea when he announced the coalition's commitment to this national heritage listed Great Ocean Road. Therefore, I cannot understand why Labor members opposite would oppose funding to a national heritage listed project.

Under the Abbott policy, the Australian government and the Victorian Napthine government are working together to upgrade the Great Ocean Road with a $50 million commitment over five years. The federal government will commit $25 million and the state will commit $25 million. The Abbott government commitment is delivering significant upgrades that include maintenance of bridges and retaining walls, improvements to road safety for motorists and resurfacing roadworks. This upgrade will ensure the Great Ocean Road is safer and able to handle the increasing volumes of traffic.

As mentioned by my colleague the member for Corangamite, consultation sessions have already occurred in Anglesea, Lorne and Apollo Bay. I congratulate the member for Corangamite for listening to her local residents and fighting for this election commitment. It is also very exciting that the member for Corangamite, along with the member for Wannon, has brought forward to this financial year the Abbott government's commitment of $15 million. That means things will get moving very quickly. In November, Victorian Premier Denis Napthine and the then Victorian opposition leader announced a $1.2 million project on the Great Ocean Road at Allansford outside the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory—the first of many projects to improve this iconic road. Can I also congratulate Warrnambool on their sound and light show. As well, can I congratulate the member for Wannon, who has taken on the position as chair of the coalition's tourism committee.

As part of the commitment of $1.2 million announced on 1 December 2013, two kilometres on the outskirts of Lorne between Stony Creek and the roundabout at Deans Marsh will be sealed. This will see potholes repaired and rough sections of road improved. In December, Prime Minister Tony Abbott again visited Anglesea to announce a $1.8 million upgrade to a section of the Great Ocean Road. This is a fantastic commitment from the Abbott government. We are on the move to rebuild infrastructure not only for Victoria but for all of Australia.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My earliest memory of the Great Ocean Road is my mother's real concern for our safety as my father swung around the bends carved into the sheer cliff faces, with the ocean crashing below. I was five or six, but I can also remember being told that the road was made, literally, by hand by the ex-WWI diggers. They were given a pick or a shovel and no doubt were grateful for the few pounds they earned each week constructing this Great Ocean Road. They had come back to a country where jobs for the unskilled were scarce. I imagine the great camps that they would have had at the end of each day that were perhaps also a healing place for the diggers to compare notes and talk about war stories, and be grateful that they were a long way from the Western Front at that time.

Today, more than seven million tourists use the Great Ocean Road every year, an incredible number, who drop into the coastal towns and end up on the beautiful beaches of Victoria's south-west coastline. The road extends along a 243-kilometre stretch. According to the Great Ocean Road Destination Management Plan of February 2012, there are some 7,000 jobs contributing more than $1 billion annually to the Victorian economy as a result of this great road link and the access it gives to tourists and locals who visit the fine national parks or other places of recreation. There are national events programmed around this great scenic route—for example, the Great Ocean Road Marathon and the Great Victorian Bike Ride.

Prior to 1918 the south-west coast of Victoria was rugged and inaccessible except by the very lonely bush track or by sea, so at the end of the First World War then chairman of the Country Roads Board, William Calder, asked for funds for soldiers to work on a number of remote roads, in particular the plan to link up the coastal area. In those days it was important to support the timber industry and the budding tourism industry, and both needed decent road access. The original road was to extend from Barwon Heads in a westerly direction around Cape Otway and end near Warrnambool. The work started on 10 September 1919. Eventually some 3,000 returned servicemen built the road, which was also to be a memorial for their fallen brothers and sisters in arms. We know 60,000 died in the First World War—the so-called Great War, the war to end all wars—and another 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. It was fitting to have their surviving brothers in arms build this great road, particularly given there was very little work when they came back from their European experience.

It is incredible to think how rugged that work was, given the survey teams could only manage three kilometres a month as they literally carved their way through the thick forests and around the cliffs. The road was created with hard labour using explosives, picks, shovels and wheelbarrows. Several lost their lives on the project. The road was finally finished, mostly a single lane, and it is amazing that in the first years, given the condition of car brakes and the horse-drawn wagons using the road, more were not lost over the cliffs. Such was the importance and significance of the project that when the road was finally completed, in 1932, the Lieutenant Governor of Victoria Sir William Irvine officially opened it announcing to all that it was the largest war memorial in the world. Three years later the road from Eastern View to Lorne was completed with much celebration. Tolls were levied to cover the cost, because it was a trust that first put together the funding to make this road a reality.

Now the government is delivering on its $25 million election commitment to upgrade the Great Ocean Road. It is fitting and appropriate that $15 million of federal funding for the road upgrade was brought forward to this financial year. This upgrade is essential for tourism and linking the towns. It is a fitting tribute to the men and the women who lost their lives shortly after the First World War. It is an iconic road, a centrepiece of the south-west Victorian tourism industry, and it supports thousands of local jobs. I commend the new member for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson, for this motion. She is a great advocate for her people, and this road will always stand as a fitting memorial to those who died.

Debate adjourned.