LETTER TO THE EDITOR – Re: Covid Recovery

Dear Editor, There’s a lot of talk about recovery from COVID-19 shutdowns but months after the harsh lockdown ended, I’m still hearing the same message: the Andrews Government’s focus is in all the wrong places. This week we learned that Daniel Andrews is sitting on millions of dollars in small business grants that was intended…

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Lifeline needed for Murray River communities

Checkpoints on Victoria’s border with New South Wales must be removed following today’s announcement that reclassifies all of NSW as either ‘green’ or ‘orange’ zones. Border communities are at their wits end. Despite no COVID cases in NSW border communities, Labor’s unwieldy permit system is leaving local people still facing debilitating delays to get across…

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Wild dog destruction getting worse, not better, under Labor

Inadequate resourcing has taken the teeth out of wild dog control in Victoria, leaving livestock at risk and exposing landholders to further emotional and financial trauma. The Andrews Labor Government’s lax management is seeing attacks increase, with reports today landholders near Wyperfeld National Park in Victoria’s north-west have lost more than 300 sheep to wild…

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR – SEASONAL WORKERS

Dear Editor, Daniel Andrews has found a way to bring 1200 players and staff in for the tennis, yet still fails to pave the way for seasonal workers to get onto Victorian farms. Without enough workers, the problems are getting worse for our fruit and vegetable growers and meat processing sector. A Lindenow Valley grower…

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Delays leave local farmers exposed to illegal trespass

Laws to impose on-the-spot fines to better protect Murray Plains farmers against farm trespass still haven’t been drafted, six months after the Andrews Labor Government finally agreed to the change. A parliamentary inquiry recommended on-the-spot fines be implemented as a solution to stop extreme animal activities breaking into farms, stealing livestock and damaging biosecurity. But…

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Local history grants are now available

Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, is encouraging local community organisations to put their hand up for a share in $350,000 of state funding, available for projects that preserve and share stories of local history. The Local History Grants Program, which is managed by the Public Record Office Victoria, is currently accepting…

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Fast-track solution needed to border closures

Op-Ed – Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh It’s ground hog day for Victoria’s border communities. The Andrews Labor Government’s eleventh-hour border closures on New Year’s Eve again turned our world upside down. It’s made access to health services and medical supplies, education and daily essentials that much more difficult for people living and working…

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Police bused to Bendigo while small towns cry out for business

The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, has condemned the blinkered view of the Victorian government over the economic damage it has inflicted on river communities. Mr Walsh said despite lessons that should have been learnt from previous COVID closures and their impact on the river’s twin towns, “once again local economies…

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