Over the last few years I’ve had the unique experience of witnessing, firsthand, the innovation, community spirit and common sense of the people who live in the Wimmera and the Mallee. I have become such a strong advocate for our region’s success because of these people.

Leadership ultimately is about serving. I put a voice to the needs and ideas of the Wimmera and Mallee and through this combination of shared ideas and advocacy. We’re making our patch better.

I want to pay tribute to the many volunteers and candidates who played an active role in our strong and robust democracy.

Regardless of political persuasion, the campaign was conducted with decency and a shared belief in securing a strong future for Australia.

I also want to recognise all the Australian Electoral Commission staff, whose independent and ethical practices create an unquestionable level of trust in the democratic process.

It is true to say that our country faces many challenges. However, it is equally true to say that our strengths and our potential far outweigh any limitations we may encounter.

It is my firm belief that our best years are before us. Working together, our future is bright.

THE three-year federal election cycle needs to be reviewed, as does the archaic pre-poll circus. 

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s endorsement of electronic voting should reduce the eight-day vote count.

The three-year term fails to give elected governments enough time to introduce their policy without being compromised by campaigning. Governments are now so reactive to the 24-hour news cycle that they are always in campaign mode.

This makes it difficult for our leaders to have the courage to set good policy or stand on the strength of their convictions with the mandate the voters of Australia have given them. Victoria’s model with a four-year term and perhaps a rotation of senators would give governments time to fulfill their obligations of mandated policies without the interruption of campaign compromises.”

The pre-poll ‘circus’ should be reviewed because voters were using it as more of a convenience than a necessity.

While I understand that some voters have a legitimate reason for voting early, many abuse the process or don’t realise it’s specifically to be utilised by those who cannot attend a voting centre on election day.

Apart from tying up a huge amount of resources with the excessive three weeks of pre-polling, we reach the ridiculous situation where Geelong’s Belmont early voting centre had more than 30 combined supporters and candidates crowding the doorway and besieging voters with how-to-vote cards and pleas for a vote. It is no doubt a popular method of voting, given about 30 per cent of voters used postal votes or pre-poll, but it is getting out of control.

With the age of technology, surely voters can have electronic access to how-to-vote cards electronically or available in voting centres without the melee we see every day outside the polling centre.

If postal and absentee voting was online, a lot of paperwork would be eliminated.

There would also be merit in using electronic voting to reduce the laborious process of counting votes for more than a week after election day. Even with just 70 per cent of voters showing up on election day, lines at polling booths saw many voters, including senior citizens, standing in the wind and rain for more than an hour.