Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to take a sweep through country and regional Victoria. I want, as the time allows, to talk about the seats of Corio, Corangamite, Ballarat and Bendigo, as it is interesting to look at them. I will start with Corio because it is one of the patron seat areas. The Liberal Party candidate is Angelo Kakouros, a very successful small business man, and one of the ALP candidates is Richard Marles. Richard is an assistant secretary of the ACTU, so he joins other imports from the ACTU that are coming into the Australian Labor Party. Of course the other player in that is the sitting Labor Party member, Gavan O’Connor. Mr O’Connor and Mr Marles have been having a ding-dong battle for about two years. I have not got time to go through all of the clips from the Geelong Advertiser and the Geelong Independent tonight, because they are far too numerous, but they indicate the unworthiness of Mr Marles to represent the people of Corio. He has been accused by branch members of being a branch stacker. He has been accused by his former girlfriend of being a branch stacker. Indeed, in the Geelong Advertiser on 26 January 2006, under the heading ‘Former lovers in stack spat’, Roxanne Bennett and Richard Marles were going at it hammer and tongs in the paper in relation to whether he had or had not branch stacked. I want to go back to the Geelong Advertiser of 12 March 2005. It reports:

Disenchanted Labor Party members yesterday labelled as farce an inquiry into allegations of branch stacking in Corio after news its findings would be kept from the public.

The inquiry will be completed by the end of April after members within the federal seat of Corio petitioned the state administrative committee with claims of branch stacking.

The allegations came after speculation ACTU assistant secretary and Labor Unity member Richard Marles would challenge incumbent non-aligned Corio MP Gavan O’Connor for the seat before the next election. Mr Marles says the speculation is unfounded.

So Mr Marles was out busily branch stacking, denying he was going to try to unseat Gavan O’Connor, the member for Corio. Gavan O’Connor, quite rightly, has significant support from people such as Simon Crean—indeed, strong support from Simon Crean—and there are other Labor luminaries who support him, whereas Mr Marles is supported by Dean Mighell from the ETU. Dean Mighell of all people supports Mr Marles; a colleague of Mr Marles is Dean Mighell—with friends like that who needs enemies?

I will sweep through to Corangamite. In Corangamite we have a gentleman whom I know from Ballarat by the name of Darren Cheeseman. In 15 or 20 years time this young man might possibly make a member of parliament. The best I can say is that he is toilet trained but I think he probably still wears a night nappy.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I do think the last comment should be withdrawn. I actually do think the last comment reflecting on the gentleman should be.

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Moore, if a person is a candidate he is not actually a protected person.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, it is the actual phrase, Mr President. I am saying I do not think the phrase about toilet-training is a professional statement.

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Moore, I do not believe there is a point of order.

Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So we have got Mr Cheeseman from Ballarat coming into Corangamite to take on Stewart McArthur, a proven performer, and Mr Cheeseman will be dispatched back to Ballarat. Speaking of Ballarat, the Liberal Party candidate is Samantha McIntosh, who is receiving good advice from a wide range of people.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Who was the former member?

Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If my memory serves me rightly, it had a very distinguished and hardworking member—and thank you very much for the interjection. While we are on Ballarat, we have Samantha McIntosh, another small business person, and the incumbent member, Catherine King, one of the EMILY’s List sort of leading lights. We saw in the last two weeks behaviour that I have never seen in my life in politics.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate referred to my time as the member for Ballarat. I can tell you that I had four Labor candidates running against me, and we acted as decent human beings. It was tough and it was rough but I tell you what: it did not sink to the levels that Catherine King sunk to two weeks ago. She ran an ad against Samantha McIntosh that broke all the rules. Then, having got a massive community backlash, she started to backtrack and she started invoking the name of the Leader of the Opposition as a peacemaker.

I think it is unlikely that Mr Rudd would have intervened, but he may have because he knows that this was a low act. You have never heard any member of this government commenting on the Leader of the Opposition’s wife—and, quite frankly, nor should we. What she does is entirely her business, and we would not reflect on that.

Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Unlike Catherine King.

Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Senator McGauran says, ‘Unlike Catherine King,’ who took it upon herself to viciously attack another candidate. She stands condemned for that. It is interesting to look at the pages of the Ballarat Courier and see where, all of a sudden, having realised that she is facing a massive backlash, her office are frantically sending letters to the editor and anyone who has even thought about voting for the ALP in the last 15 years. Letters have been shoved in to try to defend the indefensible.

If Mr Rudd did intervene—which I think is highly unlikely—he should also have had the intestinal fortitude to drag her screaming and make her apologise for her behaviour in relation to the advertisement. I think we all get involved in the rough and tumble of politics. If you play it hard, you expect to get it back just as hard. But, when you start attacking someone personally with information that does not stand up, I think it is a very low point.

Finally, I will swing to the federal seat of Bendigo. Again, in Bendigo we have standing for the Liberal Party a person with small business credentials. Again, we have someone who can adequately and properly represent the people of Bendigo—as Samantha McIntosh can represent the people of Ballarat, as Stewart McArthur represents the people in the electorate of Corangamite and as Angelo Kakouros will represent the people of Corio. There is a clear choice. It is either a collection of union and other hacks or people with a small business background who will represent appropriately and properly the people of those electorates.