Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure to speak tonight. I have found with experience over the years that before you make a comment you need to be very, very sure of your facts. There was a very interesting comment made by the member for Corangamite—the new and hopefully not long-lasting member for Corangamite—last Sunday night, reported on Monday morning, following the election of the Liberal Party candidate for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson. Mr Cheeseman very foolishly did not check his facts before he opened his very substantial mouth. Rather than welcoming the endorsed Liberal candidate, as is traditional downstairs, by congratulating the candidate and welcoming the fight that might come, Mr Cheeseman very, very foolishly made a flippant, throwaway and stupid comment about where Ms Henderson was from. The comment he made was that Ms Henderson was from Sydney. Mr Cheeseman should have perhaps checked his facts before he did so, because Ms Henderson was actually born in Geelong, Ms Henderson was actually raised in Geelong and Ms Henderson actually went to school in Geelong and then went off to pursue a career.

But what about the member for Corangamite, Mr Cheeseman? When he was first preselected on 27 February 2007, did Mr Cheeseman move to Corangamite? No, he did not move to Corangamite. Indeed, he said that he may well move down there after the election. So here was a man who allegedly was showing his commitment to Corangamite, who indeed was preselected on 27 March 2007, and did he move down to that area? No, he did not. Why did he not do so? I will tell you why, Mr Acting Deputy President. Because Mr Cheeseman was not, is not and will never be a local in Geelong. He is a local in my area; he is a Ballarat local—always was, always will be. So here we have the member for Corangamite in a cheap shot not prepared to go through some of those courtesies that are normally extended when you have a candidate, not prepared to extend the normal courtesies, taking a cheap shot without doing his homework.

When did Mr Cheeseman actually move into Corangamite? Did he move in on 28 February or 29 February 2007? No, he did not. His lack of commitment to Corangamite was such that he did not move in until late 2007-early 2008. In a classic report in the Geelong Advertiser on 15 January 2008, they stated that he would be maintaining his Torquay property, which he had just moved into apparently; he had not bothered moving in after preselection or before the election. The Geelong Advertiser said that he would be maintaining his Torquay property and his house in, guess where? Ballarat, where he is indeed a local. Mr Cheeseman was raised in Ballarat. He was on the Ballarat City Council. In his first press commentary about the election of Ms Sarah Henderson as the Liberal endorsed candidate, why did he not acknowledge that she was born in Geelong and raised in Geelong and educated in Geelong and the fact that she was everything he is not in the Geelong area—everything he is not. She is a local.

I would like to say some quick words in the time left open to me, and I will have a lot more to say about Mr Cheeseman, I can assure you, between now and the next election. And I can assure Mr Cheeseman that I will have a lot more to say between now and the next election. And I can assure Mr Cheeseman that both Sarah Henderson and I will be watching his every move. And I will have a lot more to say about what Mr Cheeseman has not done since he was elected as the member for Corangamite. And I will have a lot more to say to Mr Cheeseman about the fact that you cannot do what he has been trying to do in the last two weeks and claim credit for a project which he had no involvement whatsoever. I am referring to the Geelong ring road. Mr Cheeseman has committed the cardinal sin in politics that always gets you caught out, and that cardinal sin is claiming credit for something that you did not do. This is the man who has been caught red-handed gilding the lily in relation to the Geelong ring road. I am interested to see what Mr Cheeseman has to say about the fact that this road was initiated by the former Howard government and the great bulk of the funds were paid for by the former Liberal government. But Mr Cheeseman put a sign up in Geelong claiming credit for the Geelong ring road. There are a litany of examples of where this man has said a lot and done absolutely nothing at all. He has made promises, he has gone out and said he will be delivering tens of millions of dollars to Corangamite, but not a thing.

Let us have a look at the resume of the Corangamite local Sarah Henderson. Let us have a look at Sarah Henderson’s CV. What a remarkable candidate we have been lucky enough to get. If you look through her CV—