Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has welcomed the full field of candidates announced at today’s ballot draw for the seat of Gippsland.
Mr Chester, who has represented Gippsland in Federal Parliament since 2008, said his campaign would centre on his record of delivering for the region.
“It’s a strong field and I will be working hard to win the trust of Gippslanders,” Mr Chester said.
“I am the only candidate with a proven track record of putting locals first and fighting for local jobs. I have the experience, passion and enthusiasm for our great region and I would be honoured to continue to represent Gippsland in Federal Parliament.
“I’ll be taking nothing for granted and will run a positive campaign, focussing on the record infrastructure investment I have secured for Gippsland and delivering critical service improvements for our communities.”
Mr Chester drew position six on the ballot paper in a field of seven.
“I don’t think the ballot draw means much in terms of the final result of the election,” Mr Chester said.
“Obviously, you like to get as high a position on the ballot paper as you can, but at the end of the day Gippslanders who want to vote for me will be able to find my name, and hopefully give me their number one vote.
“It is a great honour and an enormous privilege to represent Gippsland in Canberra and I’m proud of the things we have been able to achieve together.
“Over the past six years in government, I have secured record road, rail and telecommunications infrastructure improvements across Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley.
“I want to keep working with other levels of government and communities across our region to see more investment in infrastructure to create jobs and improve the living standards of local people.
“I want to keep fighting for the jobs in our traditional industries and work with businesses to deliver more opportunities in areas like the visitor economy and further development of the agricultural sector.
“We need to see greater commitment from all levels of government to provide infrastructure on public land that improves the liveability of our region and encourages more visitors to explore everything Gippsland has to offer.
“If I’m given the opportunity to continue as the Member for Gippsland, I will keep putting locals first and keep delivering better infrastructure and better health, education, aged care and child care services.”
