NEW Wannon MP Dan Tehan called for an overhaul of managed investment schemes to encourage long-term investment in forestry in his maiden parliamentary speech last night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The inequity of federal government reform to youth allowance was also addressed in the well-received speech which covered policy surrounding free trade, the future of the Liberal Party and Mr Tehan's rise to power.
Mr Tehan said managed investment schemes (MIS) were designed to provide investment incentive in forestry but had become directed at corporate tax breaks instead of sustainable production.
"With MIS companies now insolvent, banks having no confidence to lend to the scheme, leading CEOs calling for it to be axed, and timbered land in prime food and fibre production areas lying unproductively dormant, now is the time for us to act," the Wannon MP said.
"MIS, which unfairly pits small business (and) family farmers against large corporates, and gives the corporates a tax advantage when it comes to purchasing land, is not what I consider good Liberal policy.
"It needs to go and an alternative found to encourage long-term investment in forestry."
Mr Tehan reflected on how his late mother, former Kennett government minister Marie Tehan, had shaped his political views and praised her work in reforming the state health system during the 1990s.
His father Jim Tehan was in Canberra to hear his son make his first address to the federal parliament.
The Wannon MP said it was an honour to be elected to represent the electorate held by former prime minister Malcolm Fraser and expressed his desire to see more people join the region's Liberal Party branches.
"In Wannon, the Liberal Party has more than 1000 members, and one of the things that greatly inspired...was witnessing how much our local members gave to and engaged with our local communities," Mr Tehan said.
"It is as obvious to me as anyone else, however, that like many other volunteer organisations our membership is ageing.
"We are continually asking of our ageing membership to give even more of themselves when our collective vision should be to encourage more people to join (the party) so that they can give, especially from my generation."
