Comment – Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T[/dropcap]ake a moment to watch the 49-second video above.

This footage was taken around Merino/Digby by the daughter of Kellie Donovan, whose grandchild can be heard whimpering as the car bounces along roads that can only be described as disgraceful.

Kellie uploaded this footage to Facebook (Fix Our Rural Roads), together with photos of other local roads that have potholes so large, you need to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid them.

Merino/Digby is just west of Hamilton, but anyone who has driven around the roads in south-west Victoria – including portions of the M1 Princes Highway – will be able to relate to it.

We have all gripped our steering wheels that bit tighter as we bump and slump our way across the dips and potholes that have turned our roads into dangerous obstacle courses.

Why do we have to put up with it?

Below is a photograph taken last Thursday of the archaic Warrnambool-to-Melbourne train service chugging its way toward Melbourne: it is slow, the carriages are old and often unsuitable for people with disabilities, and it is always crowded. Even the food is terrible.

Why do we have to put up with it?

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T[/dropcap]he third-world condition of our local roads and major train service are just two of the symptoms of living in a seat that has been taken for granted for decades.

Like Russian dolls, we live in a safe Liberal seat (the state seat of South-West Coast) within a safe Liberal seat (the federal seat of Wannon) and, in my view, this has bred contempt for the locals.

This contempt has been shown not only in the years of neglect of basic infrastructure such as safe roads, but in how our little patch is now treated like some personal family company by the Liberal Party.

We saw this played out in full colour this past week.

The retirement of long-serving South West Coast MP Dr Denis Napthine has seen the nomination of his 24-year-old son, Tom, as heir apparent and I can’t help but think of Rupert Murdoch passing the baton down to his golden sons.

Tom, despite being a novice, will no doubt have the full backing of Wannon MP Dan Tehan who owes Denis one for helping him get elected to a plum Liberal seat that he had never even lived in.

Dan, as he reflected last week, was mentored by Denis who, in turn, was mentored by Dan’s mother, the late Marie Tehan, another Liberal MP. See how it works? You look after my family, I look after yours.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T[/dropcap]his neat succession plan, however, hit a hurdle when another arm of the Liberal Party decided to push its own candidate – Donna Petrovich.

If this name doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry, it shouldn’t: Donna is a former MP who represented the area around Macedon, north of Melbourne.

That’s right: another Dan Tehan moment, where a candidate is dropped out of the sky into the south-west in the hope of winning a comfy, safe seat.

Three other Liberal hopefuls have also emerged in Warrnambool Mayor Michael Neoh, farming advocate Roma Britnell and Glenelg Shire councillor Anita Rank. (The Liberal Party will preselect its candidate on Sept 20 – update Michael Neoh has since withdrawn and will now run for The Nationals).

And where is the Labor Party in all this?

Despite it being a rare opportunity where the sitting MP is retiring, they have flip flopped all over the place as to whether they will even bother to run a candidate.

As it stands, the ALP’s Roy Reekie is gearing up to contest the seat for a fifth time, but this time as an independent. (Michael McCluskey is also running again as an independent, while The Greens are yet to select a candidate (update: The Greens will again be represented by Thomas Campbell.)

And somewhere in the middle of all this internal squabbling and manoeuvring and climbing over each other for pre-selection is…you.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] S[/dropcap]o what do you want?

I know what I want.

I want our seat to become marginal, where no party, or person, can ever assume that they will be in power for year, after year, after year.

Instead, every election should be a hard-fought battle, rather than a fait accompli.

I also want a candidate who has principles and sticks to them.

Just last week we saw Michael Neoh say that he supported marriage equality, only to run the other way when he was asked by the Byron Shire Mayor to formalise that support. (Mr Neoh has not only since changed his stance on supporting gay marriage publicly, but changed political parties!)

And I want a leader who loves our part of the world and will fight for it, without becoming blinded by their own ambition to be a Minister, or Premier, or the well-paid chair of some parliamentary committee.

Is it too much to hope for?

I hope not, because without these things, I fear that we will continue to be the poor cousins of the state, rumbling along on our slow trains and broken roads to nowhere.

[box]The State Government is undertaking a state-wide review of its public transport systems, including for the south-west. You can also have your say online via this link here. [/box]

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Just in: The ALP has confirmed it won’t be running a candidate in the seat of South West Coast on Oct 31 – but Roy Reekie, who ran for Labor against Denis Napthine last time, will run as an Independent. This by-election just got more interesting! Do you think Roy running as an Independent (albeit as still a member of the ALP) will boost his chances of a victory? Read his open letter to voters below:

Tuesday 1 September, 2015

Letter to editor – An open letter to South West Coast electors

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap]t the coming by-election for South West Coast, I will offer myself as an independent candidate to be your representative in State Parliament.

It’s fair to ask: if I’m not with a major party, what do you get?

Those who know me or who have observed what I’ve done in the community and in my career over the past thirty years will know that I won’t be propped up by photo-ops; I won’t speak through media release; I won’t be someone’s mouthpiece.

I don’t look like a normal politician. I don’t sound like a normal politician. I would not be a normal politician.

If I’m elected, I will consult with, listen to and speak on behalf of the community, with strength and without fear.

Having run in four previous elections (1999, 2002, 2006 and 2014), I recognise that this is my last chance to be elected as a parliamentary representative for a part of the world I love. My future – our region’s future – is in your hands.

This by-election provides the south west with a golden opportunity to control its own destiny; to break the mould by electing someone who can truly represent the entire region without fear or favour.

Whether that is me is not the point. The point is that, in this first ever by-election for South West Coast, our region might find its voice and, like the north east of Victoria, make itself contestable and relevant to both major parties.

Roy Reekie

Ferguson Street Warrnambool.

(PO Box 882 Warrnambool 3280

Facebook: Roy Reekie, Independent candidate for South West Coast |)

[dropcap style=”color:#DC943C;”] I [/dropcap]t began as a good idea for a housewarming party that has taken on a life of its own as a regular rug-twisting, hip-swinging, good-time-guaranteed-get-together for a group of friends who love LPs.

If you know what the acronym LP stands for, then you are off to a good start to be a “Spinner”: a person who loves listening to actual vinyl records rather than CDs, MP3s or digital downloads.

“It is the sound – the richness and quality of the sound – and when you hear it again after not having heard it for a long time, it is wonderful,” explains the founder of the Spinners in Warrnambool, Claire Jennings.

Claire inadvertently started the Spinners when planning her housewarming party in 2011 – a year after she had moved in – and decided that because she was a year late with the festivities, the party had better be something out of the ordinary. Why not set up a stereo and play some records?

“But I didn’t have a record player and I didn’t have any records – I had nothing,” Claire throws out her hands and laughs.

[dropcap style=”color:#DC943C;”] T [/dropcap]he solution was to borrow a couple of turntables and ask the guests to bring along their favourite records to “spin a set” in a seamless transition between one turntable and the other, just as DJs used to do when Claire and her friends were in their teens.

“I organised for a bit of a practice-run a month before the actual party, just to see how it would work, and the few people I invited ended up dancing all night…I basically ended up having two housewarming parties,” Claire says.

Like all memorable nights, the talk the next day was all around “we must do that again!”

So they did.

And then they did it again.

And now a core group of around 12 people meet four times a year, with other “Spinners” included by invitation-only, to play their 25-minute “sets”, enjoy some food and, if they feel like it (which they usually do), to dance.

“To hear Smoke on the Water again on vinyl after so many years, well, it’s just magical,” Claire says, adding that she loves rock and roll and is a mad Beatles fan.

[dropcap style=”color:#DC943C;”] S [/dropcap]pinner Toni Jenkins said the group reignited her passion for music – she has eclectic taste from The Cure, to Janis Joplin, Bette Midler and just about anything from the 80s – and that there is a particular joy that comes from hearing great songs.

“There are still songs out there that you have never heard before and, every now and then, someone will come up with an absolute gem,” she says.

Toni admits she has her favourite Spinners – Roy Reekie, Paul Sheehan – who can keep her on the dance floor for most of the night.

“To dance through a whole set of about 10 songs is not for the faint hearted,” she laughs.

A few rules have been added in recent times, such as playlists being written down rather than chosen at random, and each Spinner bringing their own glass and taking their shoes off at the door, just to save on dishes and floor damage.

In the end, however, it is still all about the music.

“The songs represent a particular time and a particular era – it is our history – and there is great joy in being completely immersed in that again,” Toni says.

[box] The Spinners are hosting a farewell and tribute night to Warrnambool’s legendary Capricorn Records and owner Mick Fitzgerald (who is a Spinner) on Sept 20 at the Ozone Room, Warrnambool Hotel. Tickets are $10 from Long Gone, 115 Fairy St, Warrnambool. [/box]

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Dr Denis Napthine has been an MP since 1988, representing first the seat of Portland and then, under new electoral boundaries, the seat of South West Coast. He became Premier of Victoria in 2013. Having made it to the top  – and after more than 25 years in office – why does he wish to run again? He writes for us to explain all:

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] F [/dropcap]irstly, I would like to congratulate Bluestone on its first birthday.

I believe that a vote for me and my government on 29 November is a vote for a better Victoria, one that is more prosperous, smarter and more secure.

I am proud to call south-west Victoria home.

I have a proven track record of delivering for South West Coast and its communities and, if re-elected by my constituents on 29 November, will continue to do so.

Over the past three-and-a-half years I have been delivering on my 2010 election promises.  These include a new school for Woolsthorpe, a pedestrian overpass over the Portland Ring Road, seven new passing lanes on the Princes Highway, a passing loop on the Melbourne to Warrnambool rail line, a new police residence at Heywood, Avgas facilities at the Portland airport, and returning local rangers to Tower Hill and Mount Eccles, among many others.

And soon a cancer centre will be a reality for the south-west.  I am pleased to have helped secure funding of $15 million for this life-saving centre – a project I have been particularly passionate about.

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] I [/dropcap]n May’s State Budget I was able to deliver funding for a new school at Narrawong, a vital upgrade of the Woolsthorpe-Heywood road and other local roads, additional mental health beds for South West Healthcare at Warrnambool and a new community health facility at Port Fairy.

I have also announced a $4.9 million upgrade of Warrnambool airport; a $7.7 million boost for South West TAFE to allow the institute to offer affordable, accessible and high quality training programs anytime, anywhere on any device; a Master Plan for the Lady Bay area and new emergency vehicles for our hard working volunteers.

As part of the Coalition’s Fairer Water Bills Initiative, residential customers of Wannon Water will receive a $70 rebate on their water bills each financial year for the next four years.

I am also extremely proud of the work my government is doing for all Victorians.

East West Link is a vital project for all Victorians.  I know that the many south-west Victorians who drive to Melbourne will benefit from this infrastructure project.  How many people have been stuck in traffic waiting to get over the West Gate Bridge?  Melbourne desperately needs a second river crossing and anybody who lives west of Melbourne and regularly drives to Melbourne knows that.

In terms of public transport, there are now 10,000 more public transport services per week than when we came to office; from January 1, there will be free tram travel in the CBD and Zone 1 and 2 travel for the price of a Zone 1 fare; we will build the Melbourne Rail Link and a Melbourne airport rail link as well as the $2 billion Cranbourne-Pakenham line upgrade.

Our Government is also completing the $4.1 billion regional rail link which will benefit v/line passengers from Western Victoria as well as metropolitan commuters from the western and north western Suburbs.

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] A[/dropcap]s a result of the Coalition Government’s sound economic management, Victoria is the only Australian state or territory with the coveted AAA credit rating and with budget surpluses forecast across the next four years.

This careful stewardship of the state’s finances ensures there is more money available to fund the services families need now, and the important infrastructure our children and grandchildren will need in the future.

My Coalition Government is proud to be spending a record $15 billion this year on our vital health services and a record $9.2 billion on school education.

We have also increased police numbers by 1700 and put 940 PSOs on our railway stations. Our tough approach to law and order is delivering a safer community.

I am particularly proud of our proven commitment to vulnerable Victorians.  Since coming to government, the Coalition has increased spending on vulnerable children and families by $900 million.  This includes $100 million per annum on family violence, a 40 per cent increase since coming to government.

I am also passionate about delivering better services for people with a disability.  That is why the Coalition is committed to the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which is now located in Geelong.

Be it here in the south-west, or more broadly across Victoria, my government is delivering the projects and programs that we need now and our children will need in the future.

That is why I urge you to support me and my government as we seek a second term on 29 November.

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What is holding Portland back?

[dropcap style=”color: #a02f2f;”] W [/dropcap]hy did I decide to run in this election?

Our politicians take responsibility for representing our community values, infrastructure needs, future investments and the economy.

One of the most important aspects of our governments, local, state or federal, is whether or not they are profitable. From this, we have a Liberal party who pursue nothing but profit, showing no community values, selling off all investments and public assets, purely to afford grand election commitments in marginal seats.

Our “alternative” government, the Labor party, repeatedly show their willingness to waste public money. The Myki system and the Wonthaggi desalination plant, both initiated by the previous Labor government, were both economic disasters. Myki blew out by $1 billion and the desalination plant, costing billions to build, will cost Victorians $1.8 million a day for the next 26 years, even if it never supplies water.

My greatest concern, beyond this mismanagement, is that neither of the major parties seem interested in supporting the entire state, but instead fight elections in marginal seats.

Living in a Liberal safe seat here in the South-West Coast has its drawbacks. We all know it takes a contestable seat to have the two major parties actually invest a fair share of public taxes into the community. Here in the South-West our trains are a joke, our TAFE has been marked as high risk by the Victorian-Auditor general and the East-West link threatens all infrastructure funding for years to come.

[dropcap style=”color: #a02f2f;”] S [/dropcap]winging back and forth between Liberal policies of “sell it all” and Labor policies of “waste it all”, we find ourselves heading towards the 2014 election.

We’re still endlessly searching for fossil fuels to exploit, trashing our TAFE system for a quick buck, watching our public roads crumble and investing in the next white elephant infrastructure project that will deliver nothing but congestion and pollution, the East-West link.

I’ve mentioned the East-West link twice now, this is because when the Liberal party was elected in 2010, they correctly stated that Melbourne couldn’t build its way out of its congestion problems and had no plans to build the East-West link. It seems that statements made before an election mean nothing to political parties.

I also seem to remember a pledge that Victorian teachers would be the best paid in the country, though in fairness, that was a whole Premier ago.

I won’t deny it’s easy to throw dirt at political parties. It’s easy to point out the mistakes, the flaws and unfortunately, the corruption of political parties and politicians (Geoff Shaw, Aaron Lane and leaked tape recordings come to mind).

But still, I want to support my community. When I moved to Warrnambool I initially worked two casual positions, one at the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, the second at Murray Goulburn, before taking up a Bachelor of Education at Deakin University.

Through my jobs, education, joining and creating various clubs and speaking to the public, I truly believe that the Greens can achieve great things for Victorians. Our Upper house candidate Lloyd Davies, a qualified engineer and previous councillor for Queenscliffe, is a caring, optimistic, compassionate and intelligent person. He not only exemplifies community values, but was also my inspiration for running in this election.

[dropcap style=”color: #a02f2f;”] B [/dropcap]ut what impact can the Greens have in Parliament? What does it mean to vote Green?

Over the past four years, the three Greens members in the Victorian parliament have been fighting to ban unconventional gas and fracking, to give firefighters fair access to Workcover and to support ambulance paramedics for pay parity.

We’ve been bringing forth policies to encourage investment in renewable energy, standing up to a government that’s trying to push through an $18 billion toll road and fighting for our public TAFE system to be fully restored from the major parties failures.

The past four years have been characterised by bad policy and a lazy government. Thousands have lost their jobs while the state government just stood by, no fight, no plan, leaving thousands with an uncertain future. A vote for the Greens will start re-investing in Victoria to solve these problems and create new jobs.

That’s why I joined the Greens and that’s why I’m standing for this election.

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