Liberals in the house with ambitions for a resurgence

Andrew Mathieson
NEW Liberal party headquarters in Geelong hopes to “address an imbalance” in the strongly Labor-held region, according to its chief tenant.
Victorian Liberals opened up Liberal House this week after federal senator Michael Ronaldson initiated the push into Geelong.
The office is a near neighbour to the headquarters of Labor’s federal Corangamite MP Darren Cheeseman and state Member for South Barwon Michael Crutchfield in Belmont’s High Street.
Mr Ronaldson said the Labor Party had “taken Geelong for granted”, with the Liberals holding no seats in the region.
“It’s always unhealthy in regional seats to have a party dominating all the electorate,” he said.
“We need to address the imbalance. There’s nobody here to ask the hard questions and to demand the answers.”
Liberal House is part of a campaign to win back a share of the region’s four state and two federal lower house seats.
Mr Ronaldson said volunteers were staffing the office and Liberal MPs planned to visit Geelong on a “regular basis”.
State Upper House Member for Western Victoria David Koch intends to open his own office in central Geelong after recently moving from Hamilton to Mount Duneed.
“To have a greater presence in Geelong is something the Liberal party plans to establish and continue to work hard with the support of the Geelong community,” he said.
Labor federal Member for Corio Richard Marles said the Liberals’ arrival in the city was too little, too late after neglecting the electorate in recent years.
“I don’t think the Liberal party has been very successful in presenting a convincing alternative to the people of Geelong and that is borne out in the way Geelong has voted,” he said.