Kealy questions state’s priorities

Member

for Lowan Emma Kealy has questioned government priorities in a 2020-21 State Budget.

Ms Kealy said she believed the government had missed the mark on supporting regional areas hardest hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Kealy said she was ‘extremely’ disappointed, claiming the government had overlooked large areas of the electorate in the budget.

She said while confirming funding for Warracknabeal Education Precinct and Baimbridge College in Hamilton was long overdue and a testament to the tireless advocacy of these communities, she was frustrated that the government had failed to commit any health funding in Lowan and relatively little cash for roads, despite some of them in the electorate being among the worst in the state.

“Independent research published earlier this month showed communities in Lowan – particularly our border communities – were among the hardest hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic, however many of these communities have been left out of this budget entirely,” she said.

“As we’ve seen time and again, the government seems to have concentrated many of its priority and big-ticket projects on Melbourne and has not paid enough attention to rural and regional areas.

“For example, West Wimmera Shire residents have had the dual challenges of COVID-19 lockdowns plus the added immense stress and uncertainty of months of border closures and restrictions, yet there was not a cent in the budget for projects in this community.

“There are so many wasted opportunities in this big-borrowing, big-debt budget.

“While there are some long-overdue funds for some of our local schools, this budget has completely missed the government’s own benchmark of delivering for all Victorians.”

Ms Kealy’s Nationals leader Peter Walsh added more, saying long-sought-after extensions to domestic passenger-rail services into the Wimmera were a notable budget absentee.

He said farmers in the state’s northwest would also miss out on a ‘transformational’ Murray Basin Rail Project and would instead ‘be left off worse than before the project started with a cheap mess of broad and standard-gauge lines’.

“Labor has starved regional Victoria of funds since it was elected to government. This year is no different,” he said.

“Instead of providing an immediate boost across our state by funding shovel-ready projects, Daniel Andrews will borrow big for massive infrastructure in Melbourne that won’t be ready for years.

Webster weighs in

Federal Member for Mallee Anne Webster also weighed in on issues surrounding the Murray Basin Rail Project.

“It is clear the Victorian Government has disregarded the concerns of stakeholders and the needs of regional Victoria by refusing to accept their responsibility to complete this project,” she said.

“Worse still, the revised business case was kept secret, with stakeholders left in the dark, and not given the opportunity to provide feedback.”

She said the State Government was now attempting to shirk responsibilities ‘by adhering to a suboptimal plan with a totally insufficient funding commitment’.

“This will result in an inferior rail system for the people of Mallee,” she said.