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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Five reasons why regional Victoria needs a better deal

The Nationals leader Peter Walsh has released his wish list for 2021; and there is a strong focus on getting regional Victoria a better deal. Mr Walsh said the pandemic has been a glaring example of how little the capital city-based powerbrokers truly don’t get regional life in general and cross border communities in particular.…

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2020 is gone but will never be forgotten

Our year is ending with another reminder the trials of 2020 and the pandemic are not going away any time soon. Even as I was writing this; governments in Victoria, NSW and South Australia were rolling out new restrictions, from a hard border between SA and NSW to Victoria going back to mandatory masks. Sadly…

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New Agriculture Minister will have a full plate over summer

Our farmers and food manufacturers will be working hard through Christmas to make sure there’s food on Victorian tables and barbecues and the new Agriculture Minister should be hitting the ground running as well. A lack of leadership on key challenges affecting our farmers and regional communities has seen the problems getting worse. Mary-Anne Thomas…

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Toothless Ag Min still ignoring farmers, industry

Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes struggled to answer basic questions on critical issues affecting Victorian farmers at Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) hearings today. The Minister was grilled for answers on why our farmers still can’t get seasonal workers on-farm and on the Andrews Labor Government’s policy to ban Victoria’s native timber industry by 2030.…

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