Reaping rich harvest as sun shines on key seats

There’s never been a better time to live in a marginal electorate. Take the residents of Geelong and the surrounding areas.

Rhiannon Armstrong with son Billy, 2, at the Geelong waterfront. ‘Anything that improves the area further is a great thing,’ she says. Picture: David Geraghty.

There’s never been a better time to live in a marginal electorate. Take the residents of Geelong and the surrounding areas for ­example.

The Victorian regional centre is home to 230,000 people and takes in the at-risk Liberal electorate of Corangamite.

The area has welcomed a steady stream of funding announcements in recent months, ranging from $2 billion for a fast train linking the city to Melbourne and a further $700 million to upgrade tracks from South Geelong to Waurn Ponds.

And that is in addition to the Geelong City Deal, a 10-year ­investment plan to which the federal government last year committed $184m.

Billed as a “major economic boost” for the region, the $355m city deal comprises more than a dozen projects geared towards revitalising public spaces, attracting tourists and generating jobs and investment opportunities.

It has also provided ample promotional opportunities for Corangamite Liberal MP Sarah Henderson, who, because of a redistribution last year, finds herself in the troubling position of trailing the ALP by a margin of 0.03 per cent leading up to the election.

Ms Henderson, a former ABC journalist who knows a good media opportunity when she sees it, seized on the unveiling of ­architectural plans for the Geelong Safe Harbour Project in September to ­reveal her government was committing an extra $3.5m for the project, which is aimed at protecting the harbour with a wave attenuator and new berths, as well as opening up the space for public use.

It didn’t seem to matter that the project was technically outside her electorate — just — in the safe Labor seat of Corio.

According to Ms Henderson, the redevelopment builds on the earlier investments in the Geelong waterfront, “which were driven by the Kennett government in the 1990s”. Other projects prioritised under the city deal include a new Geelong Convention and Exhibition Centre, $10m to help fund a new ferry terminal at Queenscliff, the redevelopment of public spaces at Point Grey in Lorne, up to $12m to upgrade Apollo Bay Harbour and $5m for a coastal walk connecting Apollo Bay with Skenes Creek on the Great Ocean Road.

The Great Ocean Road ­region attracts more than six million visitors a year — more than double the Great Barrier Reef and a million more than the Blue Mountains — and visitor numbers are expected to increase by up to 50 per cent by 2025.

East Geelong’s Rhiannon Armstrong is a frequent visitor to the city’s waterfront, taking Jack, 5, and Billy, 2, to play on the beach. “Quite often we go down in the pram and take an Esky for a picnic. It’s a great spot,” she said.

Ms Armstrong has watched the area transform from a gateway to the Great Ocean Road to a tourist magnet in its own right. She also owns and operates Eastern Beach Apartments and has found that many visitors choose to stay because of its proximity to the bustling waterfront.

She welcomed the government investment. “We’re born and bred in Geelong and wouldn’t live anywhere else. So anything that improves the area further is a great thing.”