On the campaign trail: Education, mental health top priorities for Geraldton Liberal candidate Rob Dines

The reason many politicians are avid joggers year-round must be preparation for the campaign trail. While Liberal candidate for Geraldton Rob Dines doesn’t run for fitness every day, he’s walking the walk with regards to his promise to be an “energetic” local representative. Between running a small business and raising three young kids with wife Sheree, Mr Dines still had the energy to hit the Spalding pavement for a solid three hours on Tuesday afternoon, not sitting the whole time as he engaged with voters. In the lead-up to the March 13 election, the newcomer was ramping up efforts to speak to Geraldton residents about their concerns in a bid for the State’s most marginal regional seat. Those who weren’t regularly engaged in politics recognised him from his campaign signage, particularly the one ripped by a hoodie-wearing vandal in such a way as to make him look as though he is wearing a face mask. While Mr Dines insisted the vandalism wasn’t an inside job, he has certainly made the most of the result, which he frequently joked about. Mr Dines finds the instant recognition hard to believe. Even football legend Harry Taylor’s kids have gushed over him to the Dines children at school, saying they wanted to meet their famous dad. “Here’s some kids whose dad is actually famous for having talent and doing something pretty cool and they want to meet me — it’s pretty unreal,” he said. With limited time, Mr Dines stays efficient while canvassing Geraldton suburbs by not visiting every house in every street, instead only knocking on the doors of homes with registered voters. The 36-year-old Geraldton-born and bred boy returned to town after studying economics at university in Perth, becoming an electrician and joining the family business Ocean Air Solutions. Mr Dines said he would give up his day job if elected and employ someone to head the operation, but in the meantime his team had been stepping up and working hard so he could get out from behind his desk and campaign. His visits were well received by most, with very few people respectfully declining to hear his piece. Mr Dines said people didn’t always have an issue come to mind when he showed up unannounced, but many contacted him after the meeting with their concerns. He spoke of a time when as he was leaving a local business and he was chased down the street by the owner, who wanted to speak to him about dialysis availability in the city. “He said there was a shortage of dialysis spots available, so his mother who was on dialysis could never visit him from Canberra because she wouldn’t be able to receive her treatment while she was here,” he said. “I wouldn’t have known about that if I hadn’t gone to his business and asked if they had any issues they wanted to bring up.” On Tuesday, he spent a good 20 minutes speaking with mother-of-three Rachel Radelj about his vision for mental health and education services in Geraldton. Mr Dines passionately spoke about the issue while actively listening to Ms Radelj’s personal experience, interspersed with banter with her children: “Have you seen my posters? I’m on the blue team ... yes, Ian Blayney is on the green team but he used to be on ours. Don’t worry, we’re still friends,” he said. The local Liberal branch president said he didn’t expect to be running for the seat this time around, having only joined the party six months before current member Ian Blayney defected to the Nationals in 2019. He was preselected unopposed, and said even though he would like to have been chosen after coming up against a strong candidate, he didn’t think it was a reflection of his ability. “They don’t have to preselect you just because you’re the only one,” he said. “I’d done enough work prior to nominations that everyone knew I had the intention to nominate at the 2025 election. “But I feel like it’s my civic duty to get out there and get Geraldton its fair share.” Mr Dines said he was optimistic about his chances of getting elected, and he didn’t think the popularity of Premier Mark McGowan translated to Geraldton voters, who had become disillusioned with the handling of the coronavirus through hard borders and he recent metropolitan lockdown, which was at odds with the health advice followed in other States. Mr Dines said his biggest concerns for Geraldton were the Dongara-Geraldton bypass and if it was even needed; coastal erosion; local physical and mental health services; police numbers; resources for children’s education; and supporting adults to seek further education locally, as well as incentivising them to stay in the city once they had gained their qualification. “The big thing for me is that I’m deeply convinced Geraldton has been overlooked for a long, long time,” he said. “I’m convinced a Labor member will simply become another number in the Government’s big caucus and would be a lost voice. “That’s probably the key difference, whereas a Liberal member, even in opposition, I think we could get more for Geraldton than the Labor member could from government.”