Media Releases

The Brumby Government is trying to bully food producers in a desperate effort to pass a water order that breaks key promises to irrigators, Shadow Minister for Country Water Resources and Deputy Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh said today.
Mr Walsh said John Brumby continued to reject Parliament’s decision to disallow these changes by reintroducing the orders for a third time.
“John Brumby cannot be trusted to deliver on the commitments he gave to food producers,” Mr Walsh said.
“Labor is looking for a legal loophole that makes changes to the bulk entitlements in anticipation of savings not yet made.
“We will not accept these water orders until the written word of the order implements the Brumby Government’s stated promises.”
Mr Walsh said John Brumby always promised that savings from Stage 2 of the Food Bowl Modernisation Project would be shared equally between irrigators and the environment.
“First the Brumby Government wanted to share it based on ‘future negotiations with the Commonwealth’, Mr Walsh said.
“Now it wants to share Stage 2 of the savings ‘having regard to any agreement with the Commonwealth that applies to these savings’.”
Mr Walsh said no-one but the Brumby and Commonwealth governments knew the details of that agreement.
“I believe John Brumby wants this ambiguous wording because he has struck a secret deal with the Commonwealth which guarantees them 100 billion litres of water savings from the second stage of the modernisation,” Mr Walsh said.
“Under those circumstances, irrigators would only get a 50-50 deal in the unlikely event that 200 billion litres of water savings were achieved.
“The Coalition will not accept the current water order until commitments to food producers and the environment are spelled out in black and white, not grey as is presently the case.
“John Brumby cannot be trusted. He broke Labor’s 2006 election promise not to pump water from north of the Divide and he has given us no reason to believe he hasn’t lied to irrigators again,” Mr Walsh said.

The $1 billion Regional Growth Fund announced at the recent Nationals State Conference in Wangaratta will ensure the future of regional Victoria according to Member for Swan Hill, Peter Walsh.
The Fund which was detailed by Nationals leader Peter Ryan, will deliver funding for building and upgrading local services and infrastructure as well as investing in skills and industries to promote jobs.
“By growing regional cities and rural communities we can take pressure off Melbourne and create new prosperity and opportunity in regional Victoria,” Mr Walsh said.
“Regional Victoria contributes more than $20 billion through food production and $3.4 billion in tourism every year to Victoria’s economy.
“This vital contribution to the State’s economy is recognised by the Liberal Nationals and the Regional Growth Fund will ensure a strong foundation for continued growth and development in the future,” he said.
There were a number of other issues raised and debated at the Nationals 94th Annual State Conference which set the direction for the future of the Party up to and beyond the November election.
“As always there was spirited debate on a range of important resolutions and it was pleasing to see the conference pass a number of motions which affect country Victorians,” Mr Walsh said
“One motion to gain the nod of the Conference delegates was to call on the Brumby Government to freeze the rollout of smart meters until there has been a full and independent cost benefit analysis.
“The youth allowance was again hotly debated and the conference not only condemned the Rudd Labor Government for its bungled handling of the changes to student income support but called on it to effectively and efficiently address the barriers faced by regional youth.
“However, the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund is the key plank of the Liberal Nationals’ plan to ensure the future of regional Victoria as the driver of our state’s growth and prosperity,” Mr Walsh said.
“This investment to fund upgrades in infrastructure, community facilities, core education, health services and industry will rectify a major Brumby Government failing evident over the past decade,” he said.

Bulldogs supporters Joseph (from Birchip) and Emily (from Sea Lake) were presented with their complementary Bulldogs memberships and supporters caps by Member for Swan Hill Peter Walsh today.
Both diehard Bulldogs supporters, they will now be able to attend any Bulldogs home game in Victoria simply by swiping their Membership cards at the gate.
“This is a great community gesture by the Bulldogs and both supporters wrote excellent letters to me saying why they should receive the memberships,” Mr Walsh said.
“Joseph already attends the Bulldogs games when he gets the chance and Emily is Bulldog Matthew Boyd’s number 1 fan so I’m sure these memberships will mean that there are lots more trips to Melbourne coming up for their families so they can cheer on the Doggies.”