GRIEVANCE DEBATE
Mr TEHAN (Wannon—Manager of Opposition Business) (13:08): I rise this afternoon to talk on a number of issues that are relevant to my electorate. The first is the two-year anniversary of the Casterton hailstorm. Two years ago, there was a devastating hailstorm that went through the town of Casterton, the likes of which hadn't been seen, I think, for about 50 or 60 years.
It caused mass damage, especially to roofs. It flooded, broke glass and caused immense damage. The problem was that, in the aftermath, sadly, the Australian insurance industry let the community down.
It took the community gelling together and rallying to help each other and support each other to finally lead to the type of action which should have happened immediately. Once we called the Australian insurance council in, and once all the issues and all the problems were pointed out, action was taken. But it did mean that, for too long, too many people were left without the immediate action that they deserved.
I think the Insurance Council of Australia know and understand the issues and have tried to act to make sure that their response, especially in remote parts of regional and rural Australia, is much quicker now and to make sure that they are there for the long term. I want to raise the two-year anniversary because I want to thank the community—the volunteers, the community groups, local government and everyone—for the way they gelled together and helped.
I also just want to put on notice that there are still a couple of issues which are outstanding, and my office and I will continue to follow those up to make sure that we get proper resolution for those last remaining cases because, two years on, everyone should have had their issues dealt with. We want to make sure that, in the aftermath of what was a devastating hailstorm, people will get the financial support they need from their relevant insurance company to make sure that they not only can rebuild their lives but will rebuild their lives in homes which are fit for purpose for the 21st century.
Roads, roads, roads. I say this, again, to the Albanese Labor government and to the state Labor government: spring is here. Now is the time to be getting your workforce and your crews.
Get your funding out and make sure that you fix Victoria's roads, in particular, roads in western Victoria. Whether it be the Western Highway, where we've seen some tragic incidents and deaths, or just the state roads right across western Victoria—we need to see them fixed. The fact that they've failed to do their job has become a hallmark, in particular, of the Victorian state Labor government.
When we look back and history tells the story of why there was a change of government in Victoria—and I'm confident there will be—it will be because potholes, in the end, told the story of a failing state. I say to Jess Wilson and her team: congratulations for committing $5 billion not only to fixing the potholes but also to making sure that when they're fixed they're done properly so the roads are upgraded and we won't have the continued deterioration that we see at the moment.
I say to the Albanese Labor government: it's time you got serious again about your road funding. Instead of cutting it, it's time you started investing more, in particular, in Victoria, because Victoria's roads are a disgrace. What they need to see from you is not changing funding formulas so you rip money out; it's changing funding formulas so you put money in.
The coalition, at the state level, has committed $5 billion. You should be looking, once, hopefully, we get that change of government, to working with them so that you invest as well and we can get back to having the roads that we deserve. About an hour ago I met a wonderful young mum from my constituency, Trudy Marr.
Trudy's up here, in Parliament House, fighting for her young son. Her young son had cancer at a very young age. Fortunately he survived that cancer, but he will face ongoing battles, as many young people who have cancer at a young age, during childhood, face because the medication and the treatment that's needed to cure them can have lasting legacies in terms of their facing battles to do with their health going forward.
What Trudy's up here in Parliament House for, on behalf of all my constituents who are dealing with this and on behalf of constituents right across Australia, is to ask the government to allocate, from within a pot of money, $10 million to a childhood cancer organisation and, thereafter, $10 million from existing funding which has been allocated. I'm going to lift up the booklet I have here.
It says: 'Surviving cancer is not enough. Think life goes back to normal when treatment ends?' It's from the Children's Cancer CoLab. I say to the parliament that this is something we can all come together on to make sure this money is allocated, because we will change the lives of so many young Australians who have had cancer at a young age and who—through proper coordination, especially of services and especially of services in regional and rural Australia—could face a much brighter life if we can find this funding.
Trudy, you're a community warrior, and I know you're not going to give up the fight on behalf of your son and on behalf of many young people right across this nation. I commend you, and I support what you are seeking to do. Tomorrow will be headspace Day, when we come together and acknowledge the establishment of headspace and what headspace is achieving in our local communities.
I've been very fortunate to be able to advocate for headspace in my electorate, in Colac, in Warrnambool, in Portland and in Hamilton. We have just achieved funding now for a satellite headspace in Ararat, which the community has been fighting for for a very, very long time. My hope is that that satellite service in Ararat will become a standalone service, and we're going to continue to fight for that, but we've taken an important first step in getting that satellite service for Ararat.
Can I thank all those people who work in our headspace centres in regional and rural Australia, especially in western Victoria. Getting the workforce that we need in these headspace centres is critically important and remains an ongoing challenge in regional and rural Australia. We need to be supporting organisations like the One Red Tree Resource Centre which help provide the employment in headspace centres by training up people in the services that we need in order to run headspace centres efficiently.
For National headspace Day, which will be tomorrow, I commend everyone who works for headspace right across this nation. I commend headspace for what they're doing in changing the lives of young people who are dealing with mental health issues. Hopefully we can continue to support the rollout of headspace centres, especially in regional and rural areas where we need these important services.