Despite spanning 800 square kilometres with 40 distinct townships, our Peninsula is bizarrely classified as "metropolitan Melbourne" – cutting us off from vital funding that similar communities receive. This bureaucratic fiction costs our community millions in lost grants, higher business taxes, and missed infrastructure investment.

The consequences are everywhere: roads deteriorating under tourist traffic with no regional funding to fix them, businesses paying metropolitan rates despite regional challenges, we miss out on mobile blackspot funds, and regional connectivity programs despite 82% of the Peninsula having no access to public transport. Compared to similar areas, our infrastructure funding gap is staggering – Geelong gets 10 times more than Flinders on a per capita basis.

• I'll make reclassifying our Peninsula a non-negotiable priority, push for a new "peri-regional" category of funding that reflects our unique character, and demand compensation for decades of missed funding opportunities.
  

Having lived and worked here for 15 years, I've seen how this classification undermines our community's potential. As your independent, I'll fight this fundamental unfairness that both major parties have not delivered on for too long.