Water Act changes first step towards fairer Basin Plan

Thursday 5 May 2016 Leader of The Nationals and Coalition Shadow Minister for Water Peter Walsh has welcomed the passing of amendments to the Commonwealth Water Act. “On behalf of Victorian irrigators who called for these amendments I extend our thanks to Barnaby Joyce for getting this important Bill dealt with before the Federal election…

Minister admits Ararat’s transport hub study delay

Wednesday 4 May 2016 The Andrews Labor Government has been forced to admit on the floor of Parliament this week that Ararat’s Freight and Logistics Feasibility Study is still not underway. “This is a very embarrassing admission for Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford and the Andrews Labor Government “ Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh…

Regional Achievement Awards Now Open

4 May 2016 Leader of The Nationals and Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh is inviting the community to nominate local high achievers for the Victorian Regional Achievement and Community Awards. Mr Walsh said the awards encourage and reward the valuable contribution individuals businesses groups and organisations are making in regional and rural Victoria. “They…

APPROPRIATION (2016–2017) BILL 2016

3 May 2016 Second reading Mr WALSH (Murray Plains) – I rise to make a contribution on the Appropriation (2016–2017) Bill 2016. The way I would couch this budget is as the budget of broken promises. The Premier was on the record unequivocally saying there would be no new taxes and no new tax increases under his…

Petition Launched to Improve Rail Times

29 April 2016 Leader of The Nationals and Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh has urged residents to support a petition calling on the Andrews Labor Government to immediately upgrade the Echuca to Bendigo train line to increase the track speed. Track speed is governed by the infrastructure including class of track and level crossing…

2016/17 State Budget

Friday 29 April 2016 The Andrews Labor Government has missed a golden opportunity to create and support more prosperous regional communities through the 2016/17 State Budget. With Labor’s record tax increase adding billions of dollars to the budget this year was an opportunity for the Andrews Government to significantly invest in rural and regional communities…

Spirit of the ANZACs

28 April 2016 Leader of The Nationals and Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh has encouraged local Year 9 and 10 students to apply for the 2016-17 Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC Prize. “Following the fantastic support of ANZAC Day commemorative services across the Murray Plains electorate it is timely to encourage local students to make…

Budget Promises Big But Delivers Little

27 April 2016 Budget promises big but delivers little Today’s State Budget shows that the further you live from Melbourne the less you’ll get from the Andrews Labor Government. The 2016/17 Budget makes some big promises but actually delivers little. It will make almost no positive difference to the lives of rural and regional Victorians…

Echuca School Merger – Do The Sums Add Up

27 April 2016 The merging of Echuca Specialist School Echuca South Primary School and Echuca West Primary School took another step towards its long-awaited development with $11 million allocated to the project in today’s State Budget. The Budget includes $4.9 million to be spent in the 2016-17 financial year with $6 million to come the…