One Gippsland Heads to Canberra

March caps off a big month for One Gippsland which culminated in a trip to Canberra for our first federal delegation to talk all things Federal Budget.

We had the opportunity to brief both of Gippsland's Local Members, the Hon Darren Chester MP (Member for Gippsland) and Mr Russell Broadbent MP (Member for Monash).  Discussions included an overview of the new Alliance and regional priorities.

The Alliance also met with six Federal Ministerial offices - including the Deputy Prime Minister -  allowing us to tell the story of our region, highlighting its uniqueness and capacity to influence the national economy.

This story resonated, with a commitment already, from the Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government the Hon Mark Coulton MP to visit Gippsland to see the digital connectivity issues first hand.  Our message around digital connectivity being a key enabler for our region inspired the Minister's commitment.

Further, we warmly welcomed NBN Local to our board meeting last Friday showing a readiness by the Government to engage closely and work with us on this issue.

Representing One Gippsland at Parliament House was our Chair, Bass Coast Shire Council Mayor, Cr Brett Tessari, the council's CEO Ms Ali Wastie, and Ms Nicola Pero the CEO of Food & Fibre Gippsland.

The team met with:

  • Office of the Hon David Littleproud MP (Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management)

  • Office of the Hon Dan Tehan MP (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment)

  • The Hon Darren Chester MP (Member for Gippsland)

  • Mr Russell Broadbent MP (Member for Monash)

  • The Hon Michael McCormack MP (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development)

  • Office of the Hon Alan Tudge MP (Minister for Education and Youth)

  • Office of the Hon Paul Fletcher MP (Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts)

  • The Hon Nola Marino MP (Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories)

  • Senator Raff Ciccone (Victorian Senator)

Board Member and leader within the food and fibre sector, Ms Nicola Pero, bought a wealth of knowledge to discussions. Further highlighting our messaging that tourism and food and fibre are key industries with strong growth capacity for our region.

The shovel and job-ready projects nominated in our 2021-22 Budget submission were well advocated to Ministers keen to find infrastructure investment opportunities to build the nation out of the Coronavirus challenges.

One Gippsland will continue to build our brand and relationships in Canberra to ensure we are front and centre when Federal investment decisions are made.

Our attention also turns to the State Budget and efforts to capture the Victorian Government, and local member support, for our priorities and projects.

Collective Position