The Nationals are demanding immediate action from the Andrews Government to protect Victoria’s agriculture industry and honey producers to stop an extensive outbreak of varroa mite in the state. Varroa mite has the potential to have a catastrophic impact on Gippsland’s honeybee populations and our agricultural industries that rely on crop pollination to thrive. Australia…
DetailsThe Yoorook Report Into Victoria’s Child Protection and Criminal Justice Systems released today highlights the sad fact that Victoria is the worst performing state when it comes to closing the gap in Aboriginal affairs. It articulates some atrocities from long ago, but more concerningly it demonstrates that across the past 25 years, the system…
DetailsLETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, Hard-working families continue to be hit hard by rising energy prices as life gets harder under Labor. A new Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) report confirms Victoria’s energy system is the worst in the nation, suffering serious deterioration in the past six months. Alarmingly, AEMO has warned Victorians can…
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Piles of debris pushed up against private property fence lines after roadside clearing has been labelled “habitat” by the State Labor Government, which refuses to remove the obvious fire risk. Having campaigned for the roadside debris to be cleared, Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said he was initially pleased to see work had…
DetailsNationals Member for Ovens Valley, Tim McCurdy, called on the Minister for Higher Education to support RTO organisations, following a recent decision from GOTAFE to stop providing RTO support. Mr McCurdy said that several RTOs had already contacted him saying they will be forced to close down at the end of the year. “I have…
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Labor’s new health tax will leave regional Victorians without vital healthcare services if the Andrews Government refuses to withdraw its imposition on General Practitioners (GPs). Labor’s Health Tax would mean backdated payroll tax is levied on local GP clinics, resulting in tax bills of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and placing the ongoing…
DetailsSpecialist teachers saved Disability advocates are celebrating the reversal of a government decision to cut a highly valued disability support program. In late July education minister Natalie Hutchins announced 85 of 117 teachers in Victoria’s decades-old visiting teacher service would be sacked. The visiting teacher service provides one-on-one specialist support to students with disabilities and includes…
DetailsThe Liberals and Nationals have today called on the Andrews Government to restore the funding it has cut from Victoria’s peri-urban councils. Last Friday, without any prior notice or community consultation, the Andrews Government removed all five of Victoria’s peri-urban councils from the Growing Suburbs Fund eligibility list. When asked for an explanation in Question…
DetailsThe Liberals and Nationals today strongly back the future of duck hunting in Victoria, after a biased and stacked Inquiry recommended the end of the practice. Labor, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party members involved in the Inquiry into Victoria’s Recreational Native Bird Hunting Arrangements have ignored science and based their call to end…
DetailsThe Nationals Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, has called on Labor to provide compensation to small businesses across the Valley who will wear a huge financial hit due to the disastrous cancellation of the Commonwealth Games. “Last week I met with the owners of a motel located on the doorstep of the would-be athletes village…
DetailsThe final report in the Inquiry into Victoria’s Recreational Native Bird Hunting Arrangements has been released. The Nationals MP and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Public Land Use Melina Bath said there is no logical reason to ban duck hunting in Victoria given the overwhelming evidence that habitat is the key to duck populations, not hunting.…
DetailsBillions of bees are at risk of being destroyed and an industry under threat as the Minister for Agriculture fails to respond. Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Emma Kealy, is demanding the Minister for Agriculture, Gayle Tierney, take immediate action to quell the potentially catastrophic effects of a varroa mite outbreak. Almost a week ago, the…
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