Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (09:46): I wish I had the confidence of the member for Ivanhoe that things would be delivered in my electorate. When I started in this place, if an announcement was made and a media release was issued and it was published, normally things would follow through and that commitment would come to fruition, but in my electorate in the last four years we have had a number of things promised that never eventuated. We had a large plant nursery promised for Nowa Nowa as part of the timber transition. It never eventuated. We had a media release issued about the Marlo to Cape Conran bike path, stating that it would be funded. That funding is gone; it is not built. We had an electric vehicle manufacturing plant promised in the Latrobe Valley that went into thin air, all announced with much fanfare, with media releases and front pages. Just this week that has continued. The $750,000 promised to the Lakes Entrance fishermen’s cooperative to remove the asbestos and repair their roof is now not happening. We need a lot of investment in our region. There is only one side of politics that will do it. That includes fire stations and a new Bairnsdale hospital, and it is only this side, it seems, that will deliver on those commitments.
I will finish up by saying this is my last speech in this place. In the immortal words of Kenny Rogers:
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em …
As far as this place goes, I am now folding ’em. Thanks, and good luck to everyone.