Many south-west voters feel the region consistently misses out on a fair share of state government funding.

The common catch cry is the region gets forgotten because South West Coast is a safe Liberal seat, with MP Roma Britnell winning 60 per cent of the vote (after preferences) at the 2015 by-election.

However, this term, upper house MP James Purcell, based in Port Fairy, believes his position has thrust the region’s needs to the fore. The Labor state government has needed his vote.

“So far I believe there’s been 21 pieces of law that the government have needed my vote on to get through,” Mr Purcell said. “The government know that if they don’t need me at the moment, they may need me tomorrow or the day after, and for that reason they are willing to work with me to get what western Victoria and the south-west needs.”

Deakin University politics lecturer Geoff Robinson said Mr Purcell’s crucial vote had put him in “quite an influential position”.

“The upper house has actually become a lot more significant in recent years,” he said. “It’s unusual in an area really without any marginal seats, with Labor having given up on South West Coast. It means there is a safe seat in there that is actually important to the government.”

With just over a year until another state election, and months out from the state budget, Mr Purcell wants to put pressure on both the Labor and Liberal parties to make sure key projects receive funding commitments.

“We’re going to call on the local member and the Liberal Party to fund the projects that Warrnambool and the region deserve,” he said.

The Vote 1 Jobs MP named building a new Warrnambool Special Developmental School, a Warrnambool library upgrade and cleaning up the Port Fairy East Beach tip site – all multi-million dollar projects – as key projects.

“For a start, if we can get the highest priorities on local governments’ list committed to by the Liberals we are then confident that we will get them either funded or at least committed to by the Labor Government,” Mr Purcell said.

“It’s a Liberal stronghold – it’s one of the safest seats in the state and the likelihood of Labor winning it for decades is very unlikely. They have a duty to look after the areas that people have entrusted them to be the representatives for.”

South West Coast MP Roma Britnell said her party had delivered close to $100 million for the region while in government.

She listed examples including funding for the South West Regional Cancer Centre, extra Princes Highway passing lanes, new primary schools at Narrawong and Woolsthorpe and a passing loop on the Warrnambool train line.

Mrs Britnell said her party had already committed $100 million to funding stage two of the Warrnambool Base Hospital redevelopment. The Andrews government committed $7.5 million for planning the project.

South-west councils are determined to have their voices heard as the state heads towards an election year.

Their wishlist of initiatives that would improve the south-west is long, but specific projects have been pinpointed as priorities.

Moyne Shire mayor Jim Doukas said last week’s Great South Coast Regional Assembly was a good opportunity to talk directly to government ministers about what was needed.

He said next year councils would be waiting to see what was included in the budget, then talking to both sides of politics.

“We’ll be talking to the opposition as well to see what they can do for us,” he said.

Cr Doukas said cleaning up the Port Fairy East Beach tip site was important to the shire, and having Treasurer Tim Pallas visit the site in September had been productive.

“We got a really good response,” he said. 

“We forwarded him all the relevant information to do with the tip – the government does know about it.”

It’s estimated the clean-up could cost more than $30 million.

Moyne Shire deputy mayor Jordan Lockett said the need to clean up the former tip and night soil site was one of the main reasons he ran for council.

“It’s an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen,” he said.

“Council has done a good job of band-aiding the bullet wound but it’s not a long term, sustainable resolution.

“About 20 years of rubbish, from 1975 to 1995, has been put there. I would love to see a bipartisan approach because it’s beyond politics.”

A study on the site is due to be handed down by the year’s end.

Top priorities for Warrnambool City Council include funds for building a new Warrnambool Special Developmental School (SDS) and money for a joint library between South West TAFE and the council.

Mayor Kylie Gaston said the existing conditions at the SDS were “clearly not good enough”.

“They are absolutely overcrowded,” Cr Gaston said.

"It is not right that children with special needs and disability are being left behind in pretty crummy facilities.”

Labor promised to build a new school prior to the 2014 election, but have not yet committed funds for the new facilities.

Cr Gaston said an upgraded library that would serve as a hub was something the community was “crying out” for.

“It would be a great place for all generations to be able to spend time, seven days a week,” she said.

“We have a library built for when we had a population of 16,000, which has one toilet.

“Community hub use is growing around the world, with a hybrid of very important books but also technology.”

Beyond every project that appears as an item on a list appealing for government funding, there are human faces.

The students, parents and teachers directly affected as the Warrnambool Special Developmental School community waits for new facilities have been highlighted through a recent campaign.

A parent-led group, Every Child, launched a social media campaign in September to show the impact the overcrowded school was having, and appealing for funding to be committed in next year’s state budget.

The project’s cost has been estimated at $18 million.

Labor promised to build a new school prior to the 2014 election, and a new Wollaston Road site has been purchased.

Every Child representative Emily Reeves said she welcomed the issue being talked about.

“The more people, politicians or otherwise, are recognising and standing up for the needs of our children, the better,” Ms Reeves said.

“There are local politicians who, like over 1000 local residents, fully support our calls for a new school and while we have had limited, if any, contact we welcome them speaking up for a brighter future for our kids. We aren’t playing politics with our children’s education.”

Every Child shared the story of SDS student Ben Block, 8, who doesn’t have space to kick a football, and prominent author Jackie French said the students deserved a better library.