Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm going to speak about the Victorian election again, and I have to endorse what Senator Hume said, except for the part of voting for only the Liberal and National parties. Victorians go to the polls this week, and what a choice they have to make. They can vote for more of the same: record debt, actually $170 billion dollars, and an unaccountable government—like, it's my way or the highway under Labor—led by Premier Dan Andrews. Or they can vote for the coalition government, and there is an alternative there. But I'd say the coalition is probably a better choice than the Labor government, and some good, conservative, minor party candidates deserve consideration. Or they can actually vote for the illogic of Reason and waste votes on the radical Marxist Greens, so they have a great choice there.

Or they can vote for the party that puts them, their state and their country first, which is One Nation, and I've always stood up and fought for the values of the Australian people in this country. One Nation will demand accountability for the direct attacks on democracy and freedom. Victorians were part of the longest, hardest and most ruinous pandemic lockdown in the world. One Nation will pursue this through a royal commission into the handling of the COVID-19 'panDanic' that everyone seems to want to back away from and doesn't want to answer to the Australian people for.

Our party will champion energy independence, security, reliability and affordability. We'll push for Victoria's vast gas reserves to be used for the benefit of the Victorian people. We'll push for a second interconnector across Bass Strait and for the expansion of fuel storage facilities at Geelong. We'll advocate for measures to improve water and food security. One Nation supports expansion of the Big Buffalo dam and more certainty about water allocations for the state's irrigators.

We'll work to improve educational outcomes, with a focus on critical skills and thinking and education instead of indoctrination. We'll work to arrest the slide of Australia's educational standards. We'll work to improve health services, especially in regional Victoria, tightening obligations on medical graduates to ensure they work in regional areas in return for assistance with their HECS-HELP debt.

We have a strong, workable policy to address the rental and housing crisis in Victoria, banning foreign ownership of residential property to increase supply, lowering immigration to reduce demand and eliminating red tape which is slowing the release of land. We'll hold the government to account, working to implement recommendations from IBAC and the Victorian Ombudsman. They are being ignored by the tyrannical Premier Andrews' government.

We will advocate for long-term investments in infrastructure, especially in regional areas, that will underpin Victorian prosperity for decades to come. Upgrades to the Princes Highway and Bass Highway are our priorities, as is the massive backlog in regional road maintenance. One Nation will be the champion of revitalising Victoria's regional road and rail networks, and we will work to scrap the useless over-budget Metro link—nothing more than a vanity project for Premier Dan Andrews.

We'll implement policies to support a skilled and flexible workforce, revitalising vocational education and establishing innovation hubs in regional areas and, most importantly, One Nation will be resolute in defence of fundamental democratic principles like freedom of speech, religion, association and assembly. These principles came under direct and sustained attack by the tyrannical Andrews Labor government, which shamelessly used intimidation, heavy-handed police tactics and surveillance to force the Victorian people into compliance. We will not allow that to happen ever again. To the people of Victoria I say, 'Make very sure your vote and your preferences go to the candidate who is going to work for you and your interests.'

Election campaigns are like job interviews, and voters are the employer. Select the candidate who is going to represent you and your community and fight for your rights. With the revelations of Victorian voters being deliberately misled by cynical manipulation of upper house group voting tickets, the only safe vote above the line for the Victorian upper house is One Nation, but we strongly encourage you to vote below the line. I wish Victorians all the best for the future of the state, which is in their hands this coming Saturday, and I commend the One Nation team in Victoria, our candidates, members and volunteers for a great campaign. But let's always put Victoria and Victorians first. Heaven help Victoria if Daniel Andrews and his Labor government get voted back in again. (Time expired)