The Nationals Member for Lowan Emma Kealy is calling for the Victorian Government to do more to support businesses in managing the onerous task of enforcing COVID restrictions and to address COVID-related workforce shortages in regional areas. Speaking in Parliament, Ms Kealy said she had been contacted by a number of businesses with deep concerns…
DetailsAnalysis of the state’s public transport patronage figures has revealed the Andrews Government’s limited free public transport for the holiday period would have lasted less than four hours, pre-pandemic. The Government has today announced a mere 250,000 vouchers for free travel in December and January – more than a month since the Liberals and Nationals…
DetailsIndefinite closure of Melbourne metro’s City Loop Network will throw the CBD into chaos at a key moment in the city’s recovery. The Transport Department has confirmed today the City Loop will have to close for “a period of time” after the Andrews Labor Government neglected to schedule the critical Fire and Safety Upgrade during…
Details
Nationals Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy has called for answers from the Minister for Employment regarding the shortage of workforce in Wangaratta and other regional towns. In Parliament Mr McCurdy said, “I was contacted by a concerned local business owner from the Rural City of Wangaratta who fears severe staff shortages may mean…
DetailsPeople living in communities along Victoria’s border were asked for evidence loved ones were dying from cancer and personal financial statements, a damning report on Victoria’s border permit scheme has found. Residents from Shepparton, Numurkah and Mooroopna were among those subject to months of navigating complex and unworkable rules after the Andrews Labor Government slammed…
Details
The Andrews Labor Government has secretly instituted a planning change that will make life even more difficult for wind farm neighbours trying to build on their own properties. The Government’s change to Victorian planning provisions under amendment VC212 means that neighbours of a windfarm can no longer build a house, bed and breakfast, worker…
DetailsGippsland residents were among thousands caught up in a Covid border permit scheme described in a scathing report from the Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass as “downright unjust, even inhumane.” The report, which is the result of the Ombudsman’s investigation into the Andrews Labor Government’s failed handling of border entry and the Victorian travel permit…
DetailsEvidence has emerged that Victoria’s Mental Health Minister was told of Victorians taking their own lives due to “COVID-related stressors” – but failed to act. A Ministerial briefing note obtained by the Liberals and Nationals under Freedom of Information (FOI) has revealed the Health Department warned Mental Health Minister James Merlino in early June 2021…
Details
The Victorian Liberal Nationals have announced a major policy commitment to deliver the largest ever investment in manufacturing in Victoria’s history, a $2.5billion fund – with $1billion tagged for the regions. Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said the allocation earmarked for regional Victoria would go a long way to assisting the economic recovery…
DetailsDear Editor, In a Labor-aligned podcast over the weekend, Daniel Andrews bragged Victoria’s COVID response should be celebrated as a “triumph”. I doubt the more than 800 Victorian families who lost loved ones last year, after coronavirus escaped the Labor Government’s failed hotel quarantine program, would agree. Neither would those Victorians who are still struggling…
DetailsIndependent MPs have flipped to vote with Labor to pass the Andrews Government’s pandemic legislation power grab after a marathon 24-hour sitting of the State Parliament. The controversial pandemic legislation was fiercely opposed by Liberal and National MPs after legal experts and human rights advocates raised serious concerns that the Bill handed the government and…
Details
Nationals Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy highlights concerns for regional Victoria with the Andrews Government directing more of their budget to office staff rather than to our seasonal firefighters. At the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) hearings, the National Party expressed “the Andrews Labor Government needs to get the focus back…
Details