NATIONALS candidate for Morwell, Martin Cameron, doesn’t think the state government’s State Electricity Commission (SEC) announcement means the seat of Morwell going to Labor is a foregone conclusion.
Mr Martin was asked about the announcement as he was publicising a road policy in Glengarry with two Nationals MPs last month.
Labor released a policy that if re-elected, it would bring back the SEC, majority-owned by the government, and establish an office in Morwell.
The district of Morwell is a key seat in the state election.
The promise also includes an emissions reduction target of between 75 and 80 per cent by 2035, brings forward a net zero emissions target by five years to 2045, and aims to have 95 per cent of the state’s energy relying on renewables by 2035.
Mr Cameron was the first candidate to be officially endorsed for the marginal seat of Morwell. Dr Kate Maxfield is the Labor candidate for what’s expected to be a tight race, but Mr Cameron doesn’t think the SEC policy means Labor is guaranteed to pick up the seat.
He criticised Daniel Andrews for announcing the policy in Melbourne.
“Mr Andrews didn’t even come down here to announce it. He announced it in a Greens seat, which is a little bit vulnerable for him in Melbourne,” Mr Cameron said.
“He wouldn’t come down and face the music, and actually see what the community in country Victoria are thinking, especially here in the Latrobe Valley. It’s sort of pie-in-the-sky stuff at this stage.
“There’s a lot of people that are a bit disillusioned by it, especially the workers and families. We have Loy Yang A shutting down in 2035. And virtually (wiping) out the coal industry in ten years with no infrastructure for renewables at all in place ready to go.”
Mr Andrews said the plan would bring power back into the hands of Victorians “by creating government-owned energy, keeping bills down and the lights on”.
“Big energy companies want to offshore profits – we want to offshore wind. Renewable energy is the future,” he said.
“It’s good for our climate, good for lower power bills and good for jobs.”
Dr Maxfield wrote on social media:
“The Liberals and Nationals privatised Latrobe Regional Hospital and privatised the SEC.”
“I am really excited about this plan to undo the damage of the Liberals and Nationals splitting up and privatising the SEC!”
Dr Maxfield had previously stood as a Labor candidate for the seat of Gippsland East in 2014, gaining 32.09 per cent of the two-party preferred vote against incumbent Nationals MP Tim Bull.
Labor last held the seat of Morwell in 2006 under Brendan Jenkins, when it was won by the then-Nationals and now retiring Independent member Russell Northe.
Additional reporting by Gippsland Times staff writers.
