Following the state election on Saturday, November 26, Gippsland Times journalist Stefan Bradley had a sit-down chat with the re-elected Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien.
Gippsland Times: Danny O’Brien, congratulations on retaining Gippsland South. First, let’s talk the election loss – putting aside The Nationals’ wins, what happened?
Danny O’Brien: That’s very hard to answer. The feeling on the booth and in the community and in other parts of regional Victoria I went (to) were very strong against Labor … clearly it wasn’t the message that people wanted to hear in the city. I reject some of the criticism that we didn’t have a story to tell, I think we campaigned heavily on health in particular, (and) on cost of living. I think those messages resonated, but it wasn’t enough to swing people over.
Do you believe you pushed Labor to focus on health?
No question. Some people say (of The Nationals) ‘all you do is whinge and complain’. When you whinge and complain, you get results from the government. The West Gippsland Hospital, classic example – Labor’s turned its back on it for three elections, until this one … they were pushed into it, thankfully. That’s how the system should work, I guess, they knew they had a problem. I was getting several calls or emails a week on health, whether it was ambulances, surgery waiting lists, or problems at hospitals. We asked just about every question in parliament this year on health issues, and none of them were made up. Every one of them were real stories that came in. It’s a genuine issue and the government still has work to do to get it under control.
Why did you think the (Nationals) did well, whereas the Liberals did not?
I think the Liberal Party has a long road ahead to rebuild and reconnect; I think we (The Nationals) showed the way with our fantastic results. They weren’t achieved by magic, they were achieved by good local candidates, good local engagement – so commitments on local projects and issues – and grassroots campaigning. And it’s a little bit easier for The Nationals in some respects. Our story is, ‘we’re here for country Victoria’, and I think people get that. That’s why (voters) came to us. For the Libs, it’s a bit harder as they’ve got country and city, they’ve got (factions) and all those sorts of things.
Labor still has a stranglehold on regional seats like Eureka, Wendouree, Macedon, Bendigo East and West, and they won Ripon, so how does the Coalition work towards those districts in the future?
We’ve always struggled to win the big regional city seats. Their historic base is gold mining and manufacturing, so they’ve been more Labor (leaning). To be frank, one of the problems the Liberals have is that since 1999 when Jeff Kennett lost, they haven’t won any of those seats back. They won one back in the Geelong region and then subsequently lost it again, and in fact have gone backwards in Geelong at this election. I think we collectively as a Coalition need to put more work into those regional cities, because at the moment Labor has them locked up.
Which issues and policies did voters bring up, and what will you advocate for post-election?
Roads is one. I don’t think you’ll find anyone that thinks the roads are okay … Roads and Daniel Andrews were the two things that people brought up to me at polling booths. I was surprised at the level of knowledge of our local commitments. I had some people say ‘Loch Sport foreclosure, (that’s) great, what about Lake Wellington?’ The additional train service in Sale was welcome … the timber industry got a mention. It’s nice to hear those things come back to me at the booth.
Let’s talk the Voice to Parliament. What’s your personal opinion on the matter, and what is the Victorian Nationals’ position on it? Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud of course has recently expressed opposition to it.
We don’t have a position, and to be frank I don’t have a personal position. Particularly in the last 12 months, I’ve been focusing on state issues … I’d like to see more detail on what impact it will (have) and what power, if any, it will have. Our position … whether it’s Treaty, whether it’s Voice to Parliament has been, ‘will it help close the gap?’ That’s the principle we abide by. If it helps improve Indigenous health, housing, employment, education, all those metrics, we’d support it. And I don’t know enough about the Voice on whether it will do that.
