Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester believes Latrobe Valley residents are not interested in leadership challenges or polls, and are frustrated with internal party bickering.
The Nationals MP was at the Morwell RSL on Monday, supporting former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was in town with around 40 bicycle riders on the Pollie Pedal.
Mr Abbott’s visit to Morwell coincided with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s 30th consecutive NewsPoll loss.
The former PM and his backbench colleague Kevin Andrews also posted a Facebook video of themselves outside Hazelwood on Sunday, talking up last week’s Monash Form proposal for a new coal-fired power station at the site of Hazelwood.
“People don’t want to see a revolving door at the front of the Lodge. They want to see the prime minister elected to office and get on with their job,” Mr Chester said.
Mr Chester said local constituents were more interested in issues such as employment, cost of living, roads, health and education.
“I’m not worried about Newspolls. We have 15 or so months until the next election and people want to see me focus on issues that matter to them. I will be nominating as a candidate again.”
The Minister for Veterans Affairs supported the Monash Forum’s call to build a new coal-fired power station.
However, he said the future of Latrobe Valley’s coal resources could also include other uses such as coal-to-hydrogen, or coal-to-fertiliser.
“It’s important to remember to use coal in the most environmentally-sensitive way we can in the future, and we need to meet the state’s energy demands,” he said.
Mr Chester said coal had been central to Victoria’s success and would continue to play a vital role in the future. “We will have a mix of renewables and the use of coal for baseload demands into the future. Right throughout the world, coal is being used to provide energy security, affordability and reliability,” Mr Chester said.
