Liberal Party candidate Aaron Brown has big shoes to fill and he’s determined to do it his way. By Catherine Watson
ASKED at the recent Island Voices forum in Cowes why we should vote for him, Liberal Party candidate Aaron Brown sticks to the script: he’s a fourth-generation resident of the Bass electorate, he has two children, he wants a fair share for the people of the Bass electorate.
There are no grand claims, no vision thing, no bluster, no belittling of his rivals. He doesn’t even attack his rivals’ policies or claims. If you were talking football, you might say he doesn’t have enough of the mongrel in him.
When he does speak, his words are carefully chosen and often spoken so softly that you have to strain to catch them. But he actually prefers listening to speaking.
ASKED at the recent Island Voices forum in Cowes why we should vote for him, Liberal Party candidate Aaron Brown sticks to the script: he’s a fourth-generation resident of the Bass electorate, he has two children, he wants a fair share for the people of the Bass electorate.
There are no grand claims, no vision thing, no bluster, no belittling of his rivals. He doesn’t even attack his rivals’ policies or claims. If you were talking football, you might say he doesn’t have enough of the mongrel in him.
When he does speak, his words are carefully chosen and often spoken so softly that you have to strain to catch them. But he actually prefers listening to speaking.
When I ask if his quiet manner and reserve make it difficult for him to campaign as a politician, there is a slight smile. “I grew up in a family where you needed to push yourself and go outside your comfort zone,” he responds. “If you believe in something you just do it. I’ve got strengths in certain areas. I just go about it in a quieter way.
“My strength as a candidate – and an MP if I’m elected – is that I listen to people. That’s really what it’s about.”
You hear the phrase “… if I am elected” a lot in a conversation with Aaron Brown. Or sometimes “If I am lucky enough to be elected …” There is none of the born-to-rule arrogance you might expect from the son of a Liberal Party luminary.
A brief political history lesson. Aaron’s father Alan Brown was the MP for the seat (known then as West Gippsland and before that Western Port) from 1979 to 1996. Brown Senior was leader of the Victorian Liberal Party at one stage and a minister in the Kennett Government. He’s also president of the local branch of the Liberal Party.
Is the Brown name an asset in this election?
“I can’t answer that,” Brown Junior says. “I’m focused on what I offer as a candidate. People are not going to vote for me based on what someone in my family did in the past. The Liberal brand is very important. Some people have told me the candidate is also very important. That’s been interesting.”
“My strength as a candidate – and an MP if I’m elected – is that I listen to people. That’s really what it’s about.”
You hear the phrase “… if I am elected” a lot in a conversation with Aaron Brown. Or sometimes “If I am lucky enough to be elected …” There is none of the born-to-rule arrogance you might expect from the son of a Liberal Party luminary.
A brief political history lesson. Aaron’s father Alan Brown was the MP for the seat (known then as West Gippsland and before that Western Port) from 1979 to 1996. Brown Senior was leader of the Victorian Liberal Party at one stage and a minister in the Kennett Government. He’s also president of the local branch of the Liberal Party.
Is the Brown name an asset in this election?
“I can’t answer that,” Brown Junior says. “I’m focused on what I offer as a candidate. People are not going to vote for me based on what someone in my family did in the past. The Liberal brand is very important. Some people have told me the candidate is also very important. That’s been interesting.”
| As a child, he got an inkling of the life of a politician from watching his father. “I was too young for most of Dad’s career to understand what was going on. When I did see Dad at the weekend I remember some of the people he was able to meet and help. He always had a notebook and pen. “You don’t do it for the recognition. You’re there to serve other people. If you can keep that mindset you’ll stay grounded.” Aaron was the youngest of the family, much younger than his brothers and sister, and accompanied his parents to London for Brown Senior’s three-year term as Victorian Agent General in London. When the family returned to Australia, he attended Newhaven College, before heading to Melbourne University to study agriculture. After managing the family farm near Inverloch for a few years he leased part of the farm and now runs his own operation raising Angus cattle. He loves the farm. He says there is remnant bush with koalas and lace monitors, and he enjoys farming. “You’re doing something useful for society.” His own political awakening came in his early 20s with the construction of Victoria’s desalination plant at Wonthaggi. “I had some concerns about the way the project was tendered and about the way we had to pay for the water whether we used it or not.” | Top issues for Bass 1. Health “Facilities and access to certain services. People are saying the announcement about the Wonthaggi Hospital is great – all this new infrastructure but what are you going to do about staffing the hospital? That’s why our commitment included accommodation for visiting specialists and health professionals.” 2. Roads and public transport “Danny O’Brien has announced $288m for country roads and bridges. and $10 billion over 10 years for roads in general. The South Gippsland Highway is in a bad way. Public transport needs work. Clyde Rail has been well received. The bus network needs works on the connections.” 3. Education “For people who’ve got kids – primary and secondary – there are concerns about older facilities at schools. Having suitable classrooms for STEM courses. At the state level, parents have been telling me some of the schools – Wonthaggi Primary School, San Remo – have fairly limited resources.” |
He joined the Liberal Party around that time and first sought pre-selection as the Liberal candidate for Bass in 2014, when he was just 28. He was defeated by Brian Paynter, from the Pakenham end of the electorate.
Two years later he was elected to the South Gippsland Shire Council but the timing was bad. He was part of a highly dysfunctional council that was rent by infighting, allegations of bullying and mass resignations. Aaron became the sixth councillor to resign, shortly before the council was sacked by the State Government in 2019.
I suggest that experience would have put a lot of people off politics for life.
“I really enjoyed my time as a councillor,” he says, “despite the difficulties. The first year we actually achieved something.”
I picture him on his farm, feeding out hay to his Angus cattle, listening to the birds, digging up thistles. “Why would you want to give that up to go into politics?” I ask.
“Things can change,” he says. “Being elected as a councillor is a privilege. But there are limits to what you can achieve as a councillor. There are certain problems you can’t help with. It started ticking in the back of my head.”
Of all the candidates he’s had by far the longest campaign. He was pre-selected way back in March. After eight months of campaigning, you’d forgive him if he was flagging but he insists he’s enjoying the campaign.
“The level of interest is amazing. I can’t remember there ever being this many forums. I think Bass probably has the most in Victoria.
“The Bass electorate is very diverse. One thing I’ve really enjoyed is listening to people‘s concerns and working out what’s needed, then trying to get some commitments from my party. I want Bass to get its fair share. That’s what I’ve tried to work at. And the Party has been willing to support Bass.”
He’s certainly succeeded in getting the promises for Bass, with the Liberal Party outspending (theoretically at this stage) Labor by $380 million to $313 million, with sweeteners carefully targeted to reach almost every community. The standout is $42 million for an aquatic centre on Phillip Island.
Brown is particularly pleased that the Coalition has also committed to extend metro rail to Clyde at a cost of $928 million, and to conduct preliminary planning of a potential extension to Koo Wee Rup. “That will really benefit Bass residents.”
Not all the commitments are about money. At Brown’s urging, the Coalition has committed to updating the 1996 Lang Lang to Grantville Extractive Industry Strategy to protect high-value vegetation in the Western Port Woodlands and provide certainty to the sand mining industry.
Updating a sand strategy isn’t a sexy election announcement; it showed someone who had done their homework. When I comment on this, he nods. “I take issues seriously. A lot of them are quite complex. I don’t think it’s prudent to give an immediate response. I like to go away and try and get across the material.
“As a society we have to have a discussion about what’s worth protecting. Phillip Island is the jewel in the crown of Victorian regional tourism. Sustainable nature-based tourism is working. It’s also worth half a billion to the Victorian economy.”
Two years later he was elected to the South Gippsland Shire Council but the timing was bad. He was part of a highly dysfunctional council that was rent by infighting, allegations of bullying and mass resignations. Aaron became the sixth councillor to resign, shortly before the council was sacked by the State Government in 2019.
I suggest that experience would have put a lot of people off politics for life.
“I really enjoyed my time as a councillor,” he says, “despite the difficulties. The first year we actually achieved something.”
I picture him on his farm, feeding out hay to his Angus cattle, listening to the birds, digging up thistles. “Why would you want to give that up to go into politics?” I ask.
“Things can change,” he says. “Being elected as a councillor is a privilege. But there are limits to what you can achieve as a councillor. There are certain problems you can’t help with. It started ticking in the back of my head.”
Of all the candidates he’s had by far the longest campaign. He was pre-selected way back in March. After eight months of campaigning, you’d forgive him if he was flagging but he insists he’s enjoying the campaign.
“The level of interest is amazing. I can’t remember there ever being this many forums. I think Bass probably has the most in Victoria.
“The Bass electorate is very diverse. One thing I’ve really enjoyed is listening to people‘s concerns and working out what’s needed, then trying to get some commitments from my party. I want Bass to get its fair share. That’s what I’ve tried to work at. And the Party has been willing to support Bass.”
He’s certainly succeeded in getting the promises for Bass, with the Liberal Party outspending (theoretically at this stage) Labor by $380 million to $313 million, with sweeteners carefully targeted to reach almost every community. The standout is $42 million for an aquatic centre on Phillip Island.
Brown is particularly pleased that the Coalition has also committed to extend metro rail to Clyde at a cost of $928 million, and to conduct preliminary planning of a potential extension to Koo Wee Rup. “That will really benefit Bass residents.”
Not all the commitments are about money. At Brown’s urging, the Coalition has committed to updating the 1996 Lang Lang to Grantville Extractive Industry Strategy to protect high-value vegetation in the Western Port Woodlands and provide certainty to the sand mining industry.
Updating a sand strategy isn’t a sexy election announcement; it showed someone who had done their homework. When I comment on this, he nods. “I take issues seriously. A lot of them are quite complex. I don’t think it’s prudent to give an immediate response. I like to go away and try and get across the material.
“As a society we have to have a discussion about what’s worth protecting. Phillip Island is the jewel in the crown of Victorian regional tourism. Sustainable nature-based tourism is working. It’s also worth half a billion to the Victorian economy.”