On the face of campaign promises, the Coalition’s victory at the polls will see money pumped into roads and healthcare across the electorate. 

Key campaigns such as Peter’s Project’s push for $10 million from Canberra and $2.5 million for the crumbling Condah-Hotspur road near Portland are now guaranteed. 

Labor’s two biggest announcements this year — about $4.2 million for trade training centres in Cobden and Timboon — were matched by Liberal MP Dan Tehan during his campaign and will still go ahead. 

The Coalition has also pledged to fill south-west potholes with cash. Around $25 million will be spent upgrading the Great Ocean Road shared by both Wannon and Corangamite electorates. 

Hamilton will receive $125,000 for new lights at Melville football oval while Maryborough will get cash for security cameras around the town centre. 

Mr Tehan has also pledged to make agriculture more than a blip on the national policy radar. 

But the arrival of an Abbott government could cause concerns for the renewable energy industry, in particular wind farms. There are hundreds of wind turbines planned for the south-west that are reliant on Commonwealth subsidies. 

Government funds supporting green projects backed by money from the carbon tax will be abolished by the Abbott government and is likely to impact Portland turbine maker Keppel Prince. 

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation that faces the chopping block helped save 70 jobs at the Portland plant earlier this year. 

A number of Labor promises will also go unfunded. 

Labor had pitched thousands of dollars, supposedly under Regional Development Australia (RDA) funding, for a swag of projects including Warrnambool Airport, solar panels for Corangamite Shire and community halls upgrades — none of which will now go ahead. 

National education reforms that will pump millions of dollars into south-west schools over the coming six years have received Coalition backing, as has the National Disability Insurance Scheme to be headquartered in Geelong. 

s.mccomish@fairfaxmedia.com.au