Labor must release bushfire fuel load maps

Despite devastating bushfires this summer, Daniel Andrews is refusing to release critical information about where dangerous bushfire fuel loads exist across Victoria. With months of potentially dangerous bushfire season still ahead, communities have the right to know about the fuel loads surrounding them and the bushfire risks they face.  Past practice has been to release fuel…

Daniel Andrews must recommit to Bushfires Royal Commission planned burns target

The recent devastating bushfires have highlighted the vital importance of properly managing public land to mitigate bushfire risk. Sadly, the bushfires have also demonstrated the error of the Andrews Labor Government’s decision to abandon the planned burning recommendation of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission (VBRC). Having considered expert evidence following the horrific 2009 Black…

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Timber contractors have spent weeks clearing dangerous timber from roadsides to ensure the safety of Victorians returning to their communities after catastrophic bushfires in East Gippsland and north east Victoria. This includes many tonnes of sawlog grade timber that will go to waste if the Andrews Government doesn’t act to utilise it. I’ve written to…

Property and fence assessments must be fast-tracked

Financial support for farmers to replace boundary fencing destroyed in the bushfires must be rolled out immediately. Bushfire-affected farmers in East Gippsland and north east Victoria will be relieved the Victorian Government has finally confirmed today it will cover half the cost of replacing fencing that borders state forests and national parks. Daniel Andrews must…

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor, The Andrews Labor Government can’t walk away and leave the Murray Basin Rail Project half done. Producers and stakeholders should be reaping the benefits of a completed Basin Rail project by now. But under Labor’s mismanagement, the project is stalled and out-of-money and the damning feedback from key stakeholders is that “we were…

Farmers’ calls for freight subsidies answered

Freight subsidies announced today will help to relieve the financial pressure on farmers in the north east and East Gippsland as they work to recover from bushfire and years of drought. For months, farmers have been calling for assistance to cover the high cost of bringing in fodder or transporting livestock to agistment in regions…