Time for Dan to deliver

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color:#A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap]he Liberal Party will be well satisfied with its thumping victory in Wannon at the weekend as part of the national swing against Labor, but now it is time for Dan Tehan to deliver.

To date, Dan has been in the luxurious position of being able to make significant promises that have yet to be tested, but the people of Wannon will now apply a very different yardstick to that which he has enjoyed as a member of the Opposition.

For the first time as the Member for Wannon, he will be expected to not only stand by his promises, but to also defend the decisions of his entire Government: decisions which, more often than not, will be well beyond his control.

This is what Dan’s opponent in Labor’s Michael Barling faced as a mere candidate: an expectation that he, personally, should be held accountable for decisions that were being made much higher up the political chain.

[box] Given the announcements in the lead-up to the election, Wannon will be waiting expectantly to see how long it takes for Dan to come good on his word as part of Coalition Government.[/box]

First cab off the rank is the $10 million promised for the Peter’s Project cancer treatment centre. Once the new Government is installed, that should surely be signed off without delay.

Next will be a reduction in mobile phone blackspots across the electorate, plus the rollout of the Coalition’s cheaper, copper-based broadband scheme which promises, by the end of 2016, five times the speed we have now in places like Naringal and Nullawarre and Dunkeld and Maryborough.

The potholed roads around western Victoria should be a thing of the past by the next election, and the Princes Highway between Warrnambool and Melbourne will be well in the throes of transforming itself into a true national road that is a pleasure to drive with its smooth surface, multiple overtaking lanes and dual carriageways.

The Coalition promised that the scrapping of the carbon tax would mean more funds for this sort of spending and would also reduce our cost of living.

[box] This week, make a note of your electricity bill, grocery bill and mortgage repayments, because we have been assured that they will all tumble without the carbon tax and an improved economy.[/box]

And so, to the economy. We have been told it was a basket case and modern times have rarely been so grim. Dan – and the Coalition – has promised more jobs, although I doubt they will be in renewable energy, and more opportunities for young people seeking training, a higher education or employment. The national unemployment rate currently sits at around 5.7 per cent; please make a note of that too.

Come 2016, we can retrieve our notes and be in a position to see if the landslide was deserved.

For the sake of a now super-safe seat like Wannon, I hope that it is.