The Andrews Labor Government has yet again turned its back on the field and game community by refusing to extend game licences that were unusable for large parts of 2021 due to lockdowns. Labor’s Minister for Agriculture today wrote to Field and Game Australia advising she was vetoing their request for licences to be…
An extended seasonal worker deal with Tasmania will finally deliver workers into Victoria, but it will do little fill the yawning shortage of pickers across the state. Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas confirmed today 200 additional workers are finally set to arrive after quarantining through the Apple Isle, but it comes too little too late for…
The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien is continuing his campaign to create new jobs in Central Gippsland through the expansion of local irrigation. Speaking on the Water and Catchment Legislation Amendment Bill in State Parliament this week, Mr O’Brien highlighted the opportunities for new jobs and industries through irrigation development in Central…
Member for Lowan Emma Kealy has implored the Andrews Labor Government to back regional agricultural events that have been forced off the calendar due to COVID without any financial support from the government. Events such as Hamilton’s Sheepvention and the Wimmera Machinery Field Days – Victoria’s longest-running field days – are an important part of…
The Premier’s latest decree to mandate a first dose vaccination for all Authorised Workers, including farmers, by October 15, “in order to continue working onsite” is desperate and illogical. Victorian farmers are the latest victims of the Andrews Labor Government shifting the goalposts and its total failure to comprehend, let alone manage, the ongoing mess…
The failure of the Andrews Government to fix legal loopholes in the Timber Code of Practice has blocked training for essential service workers, firefighters and first responders, placing communities at risk. A court injunction on two forestry training sites in East Gippsland has obstructed TAFE Gippsland’s essential forestry training, the only nationally accredited specialist training…
Member for Euroa and Nationals deputy leader Steph Ryan today joined hundreds of landholders from across Victoria on the steps of Parliament rallying against the Andrews Government’s flawed camping regulations. The rally comes just days after the Victorian Nationals passed an urgent motion at the party’s state conference condemning the Andrews Government for its…
The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien has encouraged Gippsland landholders to have their say on new regulations that will permit camping on Crown land river frontage with grazing licences. The Andrews Labor Government has legislated to allow camping despite the opposition of The Nationals and many farmers with licences to graze Crown…
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…
Nationals Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy was recently called upon to see first-hand the damage feral pigs have caused to a local farming property. Mr McCurdy said the level of damage he saw was of great concern. “When I inspected the farmland it was like somebody had taken a set of discs…
Nationals Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy is calling for local Victorian farmers to be allowed access to their livestock and crops on the NSW side of the border. Mr McCurdy said he had been fielding up to 20 calls a day from Ovens Valley farmers who have been affected by the hardened border…
Union politics is jeopardising food security at a time of crisis. The horticulture sector fears a union call to end the Working Holiday Maker Visa will push up the price of fruit and vegetables at a time when our communities need a reliable, affordable supply of fresh food. Shadow Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh said…