Thursday, 19 June 2025

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (17:35): (1738) It is great to be able to give my adjournment tonight. The opposition seats are a little bit empty. Perhaps, given the time, there might be some other administrative items that are keeping them from being here, because it is great to be able to come in and raise an adjournment and make a contribution in this place. I actually want to acknowledge some of the great work of one Liberal member in this place in particular. There have been some that have said the Liberal Party have lost their way and that the federal election has shown that they are not staying in touch. But Ms Lovell, I want to congratulate you on your media release calling for an electric heat pump conversion at Gisborne Aquatic Centre. It is absolutely spot on. It states:

Wendy Lovell, Liberal Member for Northern Victoria, has called on the Victorian Government to fund electric heat pumps for the Gisborne Aquatic Centre.

Gisborne Aquatic Centre offers a heated pool, and it is increasingly popular with residents … receiving almost 200,000 visitors in 2023–24.

The pool is currently heated by gas boilers, which are responsible for 18 per cent of Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s scope 1 carbon emissions, and Council is taking action to reduce emissions.

…

To reduce emissions and lower costs, Macedon Ranges Shire Council is seeking to switch from gas boilers to electric heat pumps to heat the pool in Gisborne.

Ms Lovell, I absolutely agree with you. I congratulate you on pushing for electrification. It is interesting that Mr Davis calls electrification ‘a war on gas’ and says it does not lower costs. There does seem to be a little bit of a diversion of views, but a diversion of views is okay – the Liberal Party is a broad church. I may not be surprised if Mr Davis puts speaking notes in when we come back next week and if you are asked to put a small modular nuclear reactor in at the pool. You know, I have tried for some time to move the Liberal Party away from nuclear. I did a petition a year ago. We warned them. Anyway, at the same time as this was going on, the Commonwealth, the federal government, had the energy upgrades fund, with round 2 open. I know there are not so many Liberal federal members in Victoria, so you have got less colleagues to reach out to and ask for advice about what is going on in the federal Parliament. But I congratulate you. Your colleagues should follow suit.

My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy and Resources, and the action I seek is that the minister, through the department, make contact with the Macedon Ranges council to discuss options such as the Victorian energy upgrades scheme to assist with the cost of electrification and energy efficiency for the pool. We know that electrification and energy efficiency save money, and we know that they are good for reducing our emissions. I have always said that when it comes to action on climate change and when it comes to saving Victorians money, it should be bipartisan. We should not be political about this. So I stand and congratulate Ms Lovell, and I hope the rest of the Liberal Party can get on board too.