And just like that, 2025 is over!

May’s federal election seems an age ago and back then, I was honoured to be returned as your Member for Mallee with an increased margin and close to 50 per cent of the primary vote.  While The Nationals held all our seats, we did not return to Government as a Coalition with the Liberals losing city seats.

The Coalition had a brief but necessary separation because The Nationals stood firm on our election commitments to the bush, such as improving mobile coverage and a Regional Australia Future Fund which will fund regional infrastructure sustainably into the future. We insisted on divestiture powers to hold the big supermarkets to account.  The Liberals came to the party on our commitments pretty quickly, and later on our Cheaper, Better, Fairer Energy plan, which you can read about at www.powering.au.

I have also been honoured to be promoted within the Coalition as Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government, Territories, and Regional Communications.  Councils need federal funding to maintain and upgrade local roads, and mobile connectivity is a high priority. My main role is holding the Albanese Labor government accountable for failing to fairly fund regional communities.

Ever since I was first elected in 2019 I have continually advocated on halting the reductions of our GP workforce. My proudest moment of 2025 was Monash University Mildura Campus confirming it will locally train 10 medical end-to-end GP doctor training places starting next year.  This is a very hard-fought victory.  If you’re a health professional, please apply!  We desperately need to train our own local doctors to reverse our dire health workforce challenges.

I want to wish Sunraysia Daily, its readers, the Mildura community and those beyond a very happy and safe New Year.