Labor’s bushfire recovery ‘plan’ long overdue

A bushfire recovery ‘plan’ announced by the Andrews Labor Government today seems to be nothing more than a poor attempt at window dressing. Rolling old money up in a new press release delivers nothing for families, businesses and communities in East Gippsland and north east Victoria hit by January’s catastrophic bushfires. It’s eight months since…

*** DAILY HANSARD PROOF ONLY – DO NOT QUOTE *** APPROPRIATION (INTERIM) BILL 2020 Thursday 23 April 2020

Mr WALSH (Murray Plains) (11:50): I rise to speak on the Appropriation (Interim) Bill 2020, the Appropriation (Parliament) (Interim) Bill 2020 and the State Taxation Acts Amendment (Relief Measures) Bill 2020. As our lead speaker, the Shadow Treasurer, the member for Ripon, said, I will speak particularly on the bushfire component of the state taxation bill. It seems…

Slow clean-up a setback for bushfire recovery

Communities in north east Victoria and East Gippsland are questioning slow progress on work to clean up homes destroyed in the summer’s catastrophic bushfires. As of Monday, only 41 of 692 properties decimated in the bushfires have been cleaned up by government-appointed contractor, Grocon. Many families are now fearful their homes will not be cleaned…

Bushfire-affected farmers billed for fence subsidies

The Liberal Nationals are calling on the Andrews Government to explain why it’s billing bushfire-affected farmers for the GST paid on government subsidies that funded the replacement of fencing destroyed in fires in East Gippsland and north-east Victoria. Bushfire-affected farmers could access a subsidy of up to $75,000 from the Department of Environment, Land, Water…

Andrews turns his back on bushfire-affected farmers

Daniel Andrews has turned his back on bushfire-affected farmers and the Victorians who generously transported hay to feed hungry livestock in East Gippsland and north east Victoria. Under questioning in State Parliament today, Andrews failed to explain why his Labor Government has failed to allocate enough money to its promised fodder transport subsidy. But Andrews…

Dedicated fund needed to support bushfire recovery

The bushfires that ripped through north-east Victoria and East Gippsland have had a catastrophic impact on local communities. The mammoth task of cleaning up homes and sheds that were destroyed and replacing fencing and farm infrastructure will take years. A dedicated fund is required to ensure the rebuilding needs of local communities are met. Today,…

Fuel reduction saves lives

Today the “Fuel Reduction Saves Lives” campaign calling for increased fuel reduction on public land was launched at State Parliament. The Leader of the Nationals, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Peter Walsh and Shadow Assistant Minister for Public Land Use, Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath and the Bush Users Group United (BUGU) launched the…

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…