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

I thank the Minister for Education for his kindness. He has shown what a dignified human being he is. I will not make a comparison with his opposite number on the other side because he showed some rather tardy form.

I was talking about Peter's Project, a very important project for my electorate worth $10 million. That is the commitment given by the Abbott government to Peter's Project, to build an integrated cancer care centre for the south-west of Victoria. The south-east of South Australia will also benefit from this integrated cancer care centre. It will save the trip to either Geelong or Melbourne for people in the south-west, a round trip which can sometimes take six to eight hours for people who are suffering from that dreaded disease—cancer.

We also gave significant road funding to the electorate of Wannon. Roads are the lifeblood of all country communities and none so much as my electorate of Wannon. The member for Corangamite was in here a little earlier. Between our two electorates we got $25 million, matched by $25 million from the Victorian state government, to improve and upgrade the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is a significant tourist attraction. People come from all over the world to tour this road and the fact that we are prepared to commit $50 million, in combination with the Victorian state government, is a great win for my communities and also a great win for the Victoria. We also committed funding for the Condah-Hotspur Road, a key linkage road for our timber industry. This will bring productivity gains for that important industry because the route travelled by timber trucks in my electorate will be reduced by this significant investment.

We made some commitments around crime. Maryborough in my electorate has had an issue with street crime. So we have given $100,000 for 23 CCTV cameras which will make a significant difference for that community, ensuring especially that local businesses feel a lot more secure if crimes are committed. The police will be able to use those CCTV cameras to find and arrest those responsible.

There is $125,000 for lights at Melville Oval. This will enable games of football and cricket to be played at night. Not only will the lights improve training; they will also enable key matches to be played. The aim of the Hamilton Football Club is to play an Anzac Day match against Portland, under lights, in 2015. If the lights are ready, that will be a wonderful community event, a wonderful way to commemorate Anzac Day along with the traditional service.

We saw $4.4 million for the Cobden Technical School and Timboon P-12 School trade training centre, another $1 million for a trade training centre at the Maryborough Education Centre. (Quorum formed) There are also Green Army projects, which are incredibly important. We also have an announcement that Portland will be on our national whale trail, which is significant for that community. So there are these election commitments we will deliver, but there are also the election commitments that we will deliver for the nation. We will deliver those for the nation because they are vital for our children's future.

At the moment everything that we are doing as a government is trying to repair the damage which has been done to this nation—thanks to the previous government—which, ultimately, if it is not repaired, will cost our children dearly. As law-makers of this nation, we have a responsibility to those who will come after us, and it is a significant responsibility. That is why we will bring debt and deficit under control in this nation. It is why we will grow the economy. It is why we will deliver jobs to our local communities across the nation.

We will do this to start with by ridding this nation of two of the most insidious taxes that have ever been introduced: firstly, the carbon tax. What an impact we are seeing this tax have—whether it be on our local dairy processes and on our local dairy farmers; whether it be on our aluminium smelters; whether it be on our small businesses; whether it be on our households, who are having to pay increased electricity bills. The carbon tax has to go. We took that commitment to the last election and we will deliver on it.

The mining tax also needs to go. We do not believe in cutting down industries which are significant wealth and job creators for this nation. We actually want those industries to thrive. At the moment we are going through some difficulties as our economy transitions from a 20th century protected economy to a 21st century global economy, and we have to make sure that we have the fundamentals right, so that our businesses, large and small, can capitalise on that transition. We are no longer a local economy.

Everything that we do here, as a government and as a nation, has implications across the globe, and we have to understand that. If you look at the recent HSBC report into what is happening with emerging economies and the paths that they are taking—in 2050 we will not use the term 'emerging economy' anymore; they will be First World economies like ours. We have to understand that. We have to understand the fundamental challenge that as a nation we must be competitive, and as a government we have to do things as efficiently and as leniently as possible. We have to make sure that as a government we are enablers, because that is the only way we will secure the long-term future of our nation and the long-term future of my electorate, the wonderful electorate of Wannon. (Time expired)

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