Media Releases

Member for Swan Hill, Peter Walsh, has criticised the Brumby Government for its dumping of the locally managed Catchment Management Authorities.

“Under the new natural resource management structure the existing CMAs will be merged to form huge Natural Resource and Catchment Authorities which will take up large slabs of the State,” Mr Walsh said.

“The existing North Central CMA will be merged with the Goulburn Broken and North East CMAs to form the Northern Rivers NRCA a region stretching from Khancoban in Victoria’s high country to Swan Hill in the west and Macedon in central Victoria while the Mallee and Wimmera CMAs will form the Wimmera-Mallee NRCA which will run from the Grampians in the south to the Sunrasia irrigation area in the north.

“This means that valuable local knowledge and experience will be lost as the CMAs are centralised with management coming from yet to be determined centres far removed from the local scene,” he said.

“CMAs were set up to incorporate valuable local knowledge in the management of our land, water and biodiversity, yet Labor’s plan means each authority will manage much larger regions with vastly different environmental issues.

“This new structure will restrict the input of local communities into the management of local catchments,” Mr Walsh said.

“Membership of each Authority will be based on appointment by the Brumby Government and will be dependent upon criteria determined by bureaucrats far removed from the local scene.

“John Brumby can’t be trusted on the environment when he moves to limit community input and ownership of environmental management,” he said.

“Labor’s Securing Our Natural Future white paper is going to have massive implications for our State and these changes to the CMAs will be just the first of many that will create major challenges for our local communities,” Mr Walsh said.

The Victoria Government is considering a proposal to relocate the state’s entire eastern barred bandicoot population to French Island to protect it from marauding foxes, Shadow Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh revealed today.

Mr Walsh said the Brumby Government had admitted it had had little success in trying to recover the nationally endangered species due to fox predation.

“The Brumby Government has waved the white flag to foxes at the expense of the state’s farmers and other species endangered by foxes,” Mr Walsh said.

“Instead of embarking on an eradication program to lower fox numbers, it is considering relocating the entire eastern barred bandicoot population.”

Mr Walsh said livestock and native animals would remain under threat while Agriculture Minister Joe Helper refused to reintroduce the successful fox bounty.

“Mr Helper must apply some common sense and listen to the state’s farmers who want to see the fox bounty reintroduced permanently,” Mr Walsh said.

“Not every species endangered by fox predation can be relocated to French Island.

“If the government was serious about saving the thousands of lambs and calves lost to foxes each year and protecting endangered species such as the eastern barred bandicoot and spotted quoll, it would reintroduce the fox bounty permanently.”

Mr Walsh said despite the success of previous fox bounty programs, the Brumby Government axed the program in 2003 and again in 2008.

“Yesterday Minister Helper is congratulating himself for the success of the government’s new FoxStop program which has recorded a paltry 6000 kills in an entire year.

“The program is a farce. It has done very little to address the economic losses farmers are facing as a result of fox attacks.

“When the fox bounty was reinstated in 2007, 63,174 foxes were shot, while the 2002 program was responsible for the eradication of about 198,000 foxes.

“The Brumby Government is out of touch with the needs of Victorian farmers. Its efforts to control the fox problem in this state have been half-hearted at best,” Mr Walsh said.

Media contact: Peter Walsh 0428 507 541

Common sense has finally prevailed according to Member for Swan Hill, Peter Walsh, in responding to the announcement by Small Business Minister, Joe Helper, this week that local Councils will now be able to split public holidays within their Shire boundaries.

“Community anger and protest has forced the Brumby Government to admit their arrogant approach to the implementation of their Show Day legislation was completely misguided,” Mr Walsh said.

“The issues that the Coalition raised in Parliament when the legislation was first introduced were exactly the ones that rallied communities throughout the state in protest at this unfair and poorly thought through regulation on our local Councils.

“Both Labor and the Greens ignored the evidence that was plain for everyone to see that this legislation was flawed and it has taken strong action by the entire community to get this message through,” he said.

“The voice of the hundreds of people who signed the protest petition has been heard and goes to prove that if enough people stand up and demonstrate their feelings strongly enough then we can, and do, achieve appropriate change.

“My congratulations to everyone who signed the petition and who contacted my office in protest, your voices have been heard.

“Now it’s time for Minister Helper to apologise to all the communities who missed out on their Show Day holiday this year because of his Government’s arrogance,” Mr Walsh said.

The Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition has today given notice it will again oppose the gazetting of a water regulation designed to provide the Brumby Government with a legal mechanism to take water from northern Victoria.

Shadow Minister for Country Water Resources Peter Walsh said the Coalition would move a further disallowance against the order which was reintroduced by Water Minister Tim Holding.

”We’ve said from the outset that the north-south pipeline is flawed and we will fight it at every opportunity,” Mr Walsh said.

“The order was disallowed by the Coalition with support from the minor parties in August because it broke key commitments to Victoria’s food-producing communities and the environment.

“The motion to disallow the second order issued by the Minister means the regulations will again be debated early next year.

“Premier John Brumby has arrogantly pursued the same course, refusing to take the concerns of northern Victorian communities on board.

“Their concerns have not been addressed in the second order and no significant changes were made before it was gazetted again.”

Mr Walsh said the motion to disallow the order would most likely be debated after the Auditor-General’s report into the government’s estimations on water savings was tabled.

“It is believed the Auditor-General’s report will show the amount of water saved by the modernisation project is drastically less than the government’s estimations,” Mr Walsh said.

“Labor has grossly overestimated the water savings available through the modernisation project and it is now in a panic to raid water previously committed to the environment.”

Mr Walsh said the Brumby Government had already raided 10,000 megalitres (ML) from the environmental water reserve held in Lake Eildon, and a further 12,000ML of savings from the Wimmera Mallee pipeline earmarked for northern Victoria’s river red gum forests, for Melbourne in 2010.

Media: Peter Walsh 0428 507 541

Shadow Minister for Country Water Resources Peter Walsh today questioned whether Victoria’s northern region can continue to be Australia’s food bowl under the Brumby Government’s rural water strategy.

Responding to the release of the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy yesterday, Mr Walsh said the Brumby Government was doing untold damage to the region.

“Within another five years, the majority of the water rights previously held in the region will be traded out of the food producing sector of the region to other areas or the Commonwealth,” Mr Walsh said.

“It is the stated aim of those controlling the government-owned state enterprise Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project (NVIRP) to close down at least 60 per cent of the irrigation infrastructure of the region.

“The Brumby Government acknowledges the region contributes about $3.26 billion a year to the Victorian economy, yet it is in the process of draining the food producing sector of water.

“Its latest strategy does very little to halt that exodus of water from northern Victoria.”

Mr Walsh said the report showed up to 30 per cent of farming properties in the Sunraysia area were no longer producing food and the water had been sold off.

“This decline cannot continue without having a serious impact on Victoria’s ability to produce food and causing job losses in our regions,” Mr Walsh said.

Media contact: Peter Walsh 0428 507 541

Member for Swan Hill, Peter Walsh, is urging all small business and not-for-profit organisations to apply for a waiver or reduction on their Liquor Licence Fees.

“The Brumby government has finalised acknowledged how much they have botched their liquor licence fee reform program,” Mr Walsh said.

“After massive community protest the government has now released the form for small business and not-for-profit organisations to apply for a waiver or reduction on their fees.

“Unfortunately, this form only applies to small businesses with five or less employees and not-for-profit clubs and organisations,” he said.

“We must keep the pressure up to try and get the government to review its entire licence fee reform agenda to get some equity and common-sense back into the system.

“Any business or organisation intending to apply for a fee waiver or reduction only have until December 31 this year to get their application submitted to the Director of Liquor Licensing,” Mr Walsh said.

“Eligible applicants will not be required to pay their licence fee renewal until a decision is made about their application.

The form is available by either phoning Responsible Alcohol Victoria on 1300 650 367 or downloading it from the internet from the Justice Department site. However, as the address for this site is extremely long and complicated, copies are available from Peter Walsh’s office at 274 Campbell St Swan Hill.

Last week in Parliament, Member for Swan Hill Peter Walsh raised the issue of the state of the Birchip-Sea Lake Road.

“This road is an absolute disgrace,” Mr Walsh said.

“Almost 12 months ago VicRoads erected large, red ‘Slow Down’ signs around a particularly bad section and painted identification marks on the road surface indicating that works were imminent but nothing has been done since then.

“This section of road just north of Birchip is extremely dangerous and even with the speed restricted to 80kmh, passengers in a motor car can find themselves being thrown violently around.

“The impact in a large B-double truck travelling along the route is magnified immeasurably,” he said.

“Traffic along this road increases markedly at this time of the year because of harvest and the school holidays starting in a couple of weeks.

“The risk of a serious accident, especially to unwary visitors to the region, has obviously not been considered by VicRoads in their works schedule,” Mr Walsh said.

“Unfortunately, this works schedule is severely hampered by the lack of funding provided for country roads maintenance by the Brumby Government.

“In the 2009-10 budget, the State Labor Government reduced funding for resurfacing of country roads by nearly 10%,” he said.

“As the Liberal-Nationals Coalition has continually said ‘If you invest in country roads, you save country lives’.

“If the Brumby Government was really serious about reducing the country road toll they would provide funds so that dangerous sections of road such as this Birchip-Sea Lake section could be maintained appropriately,” Mr Walsh said.

COALITION ANNOUNCES NEW BEE INDUSTRY POLICY

A Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Government will protect and grow Victoria’s bee industry to secure the state’s agricultural industry, boost regional jobs and protect the state’s billion-dollar food exports.

Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Leader Ted Baillieu today committed to reinstating bee site licences on public land, previously banned by the Labor Government.

Announcing the policy in Castlemaine today with Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Deputy Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh, Mr Baillieu said a recent Commonwealth Parliamentary committee report found the honey bee industry contributes directly to between $4 billion and $6 billion to agricultural production nationally.

“At least 400 bee sites in Victoria have been banned as a result of policy decisions by Parks Victoria and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). The Coalition will reinstate bee site licenses that have been withdrawn over the past two decades,” Mr Baillieu said.

“We will actively pursue the expansion of the apiculture industry by finding additional sites and cutting the bureaucratic red tape strangling the industry.

“The industry goes to the very heart of Victoria’s agricultural and horticultural food production, producing honey and playing a critical role in the pollination of food crops.

“We are also committed to maintaining pressure on the Federal Government to ensure quarantine measures are maintained to keep the industry free of devastating pests such as varroa mite,” Mr Baillieu said.

Mr Walsh said the Brumby Government had thwarted beekeepers in their attempts to gain access to new and lost bee sites.

“Environment Minister Gavin Jennings promised to investigate 200 of the 400 sites that the Victorian Apiarists Association believes were lost when land was transferred to Parks Victoria and the DSE,” Mr Walsh said.

“The Minister promised to complete a review by the end of August this year, but under questioning in Parliament last week he admitted only 98 sites have been assessed. Of those, the government intends to reopen just 21 sites to beekeepers.”

Mr Walsh said the beekeeping industry was vital to Victoria’s economic and social future.

“There are about 200 commercial beekeepers in Victoria who control around 70,000 to 80,000 hives. It is vitally important that unnecessary impediments to the development of the industry are removed,” Mr Walsh said.

Media: Peter Walsh 0428 507 541

The Nationals Member for Swan Hill Peter Walsh has slammed the Brumby Government for its blatant disregard of small, not-for-profit organisations caught up in the botched liquor licence fee reform saga.

“As well as the unfair burden that is being placed on country pubs, clubs and liquor outlets by this ill-thought out policy, the full impact is now being felt by the many small not-for-profit community groups throughout country Victoria,” Mr Walsh said today.

“Many of these liquor licensees are now starting to receive the Liquor Licence / Permit Renewal Notices and they are finding that they are being slugged an extra 427%,” he said.

“This is a disgrace.

“These organisations barely make a profit over the year and this fee increase is going to have a massive impact on their bottom line,” Mr Walsh said.

“One small country golf club in my electorate had an operating loss of $361 this past season but still felt that they had had a successful year because of the support they received from their local community and the numbers of golfers who made use of the golf course.

“This club, as do many others, works tirelessly to provide its community with a facility they can use and relax in but this massive liquor licence fee hike is going to hit the club hard, as it will the many other similar sized organisations in country Victoria,” Mr Walsh said.

“The government should be condemned for increasing liquor licence fees without any understanding of the impact on small, not-for-profit clubs.

“It is essential the government immediately reconsider these reforms with a view to introducing a fairer system,” he said.