Damian Drum (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This time last year I was trying to find some money for a disability centre in Shepparton known as ConnectGV. ConnectGV has been operating for 65 years, and their facility is literally falling down around them, their staff and their participants. ConnectGV have raised over $3 million and been supported by people throughout Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley.

As it turned out, I couldn't find the $2 million that I needed for them to build a new facility, but I was able to get an election commitment that if we were to win the election on 18 May then we were going to come good with $2 million. I took that to my political opponent who was running for the Labor Party and I asked him, 'Would you be able to go to your leaders and see if you could get a similar commitment from the Labor Party that, if you win the election, you're going to be able to come good with this money for ConnectGV?' He went away and, after a couple of days, he came back and said, 'I've tried and I've tried but I cannot get anything out of the Labor Party.'

On 18 May, when we finally won the election, the first phone call I made on that Saturday night was to Carolynne Young, the CEO of ConnectGV, telling her that she had just witnessed an election for the coalition and $2 million was going to be coming her way. A couple of months ago the Deputy Prime Minister signed off on this $2 million that is now going to go to ConnectGV. They're going to start digging the foundations next week. Thanks for nothing!