Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to 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—

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She would not have voted for new buildings for schools in Corangamite, would she.

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

I beg your pardon?

Michael Forshaw (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Pratt and Senator Ronaldson. This is not question time—

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

What an extraordinary—

The Acting Deputy President:

Excuse me, Senator Ronaldson. I am speaking. You have got two minutes and 30 seconds to go. I would appreciate it if senators would not interject and I would appreciate it, Senator Ronaldson, if you would not respond by starting a discussion across the chamber.

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

Absolutely. I will send this very new senator a map of where Corangamite is, because I suspect she probably thinks it is near the Cocos Islands. It is not. It is near Geelong, where Sarah Henderson is a local and where Darren Cheeseman most certainly is not.

I will go through the CV of Ms Sarah Henderson and I will again expand on this in due course. Ms Henderson has had a wide variety of experiences. You may have seen her heading the 7.30 Report in Victoria, where she was the anchor person for the 7.30 Report. You may be aware—probably not, Senator, because you really have not made a significant contribution about anything since you had been here—that indeed Ms Henderson has been actively involved in a number of ABC programs. She also received a Quill award. Again, you probably do not know what that is—

The Acting Deputy President:

Order! Senator Ronaldson, please direct your remarks through the chair, not across the chamber.

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

Through you, Chair, to the senator: you have probably got no idea what you are talking about.

The Acting Deputy President:

Senator Ronaldson, I trust that you are not referring to me when you make those comments. Please direct your remarks through the chair. You have 59 seconds to go. Let us get there without further interruption.

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

Mr Acting Deputy President, I have enormous respect for you. I will go through this CV at greater length. Here is a person who has made a substantial contribution. Just out of interest, Ms Henderson was a consultant to National Indigenous Television Ltd. This is a woman who has vast experience. She is a lawyer, she has been self-employed, she is a mother and she is a local. Mr Cheeseman, a non-local, in his first commentary about a preselected candidate, has attacked them for not being a local. I can tell you now, Mr Acting Deputy President, that he will be taken to task on this. Everywhere Mr Cheeseman turns between now and the next election, we will be there. Every time Mr Cheeseman is back in the papers claiming credit for things he has not done, we will be there. Every time— (Time expired)

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I seek leave to make a very short statement.

Leave granted.

I would like to withdraw the remarks I made just after the last vote before the adjournment debate. They were a reflection on the President, and that should never happen. I sincerely apologise to the President and to this chamber. I am sorry.