Shops closed
OUR friends were appalled Christmas week to find many eateries in Swan Hill not open.
What does this say about tourism, Swan Hill?
Meeting the culinary needs of our visitors — and the attitude of owners.
From two hungry dames, with best wishes to all.
Tennis balls
before apples
DANIEL Andrews has found a way to bring 1200 players and staff in for the tennis, yet still fails to pave the way for seasonal workers to get onto Victorian farms.
Without enough workers, the problems are getting worse for our fruit and vegetable growers and meat processing sector.
A Lindenow Valley grower destroyed a $150,000 celery crop last week because he couldn’t get enough workers to have it picked within the short timeframe that the supermarkets require.
A Lake Boga producer was forced to mulch six hectares of ripe peaches after he could only get eight pickers — far less than the 30 that were needed.
At Shepparton, six hectares of zucchini was recently ploughed into the ground, while a Gippsland grower has lost about 20 per cent of their cauliflowers this season.
Daniel Andrews has locked our border and thrown away the key — despite a detailed solution from industry for a quarantine facility at Mildura.
All other states have quarantine programs in place. Strong support from the Federal Liberal and Nationals Government has already seen 1500 workers flown into the country.
Our farmers have been through fire and drought, now they’ve finally had a decent season but they can’t reap the benefits.
Daniel Andrews’ pig-headed arrogance is the last hurdle to getting workers onto Victorian farms.
Peter Walsh,
Leader of The Nationals
Shadow Minister for Agriculture
Member for Murray Plains
Courts with backlogs
VICTORIA’S courts are burdened with huge backlogs due to the Victorian Government’s management of the COVID-19 scenario.
The County Court alone has a backlog of 1000 jury trials to be heard, with about 400 of these in regional Victoria. People facing more serious charges could have a two-year wait. Months could go by just to see a magistrate.
All this is bad enough for the alleged perpetrator waiting to prove their innocence or otherwise.
But it is the victims of crime who suffer the greatest violation — in the crime itself — and then in the wait for justice and resolution.
It is an angst-filled period for victims. It adds to the destabilisation of their lives, delaying any sense of safety, justice or the opportunity to restore life as they knew it before the crime against them was committed.
The court delays also impede the measures that are used to help the accused get their lives back on track. Anger management and drug rehabilitation are key to helping offenders — restoring their ability to be their best. In this way they become valued contributors to society, not detractors.
Justice delayed is justice denied — any way you look at it.
Regional Victoria has suffered enough because of the mismanagement of the virus by the Victorian Government.
The draconian restrictions of last year in particular are still revealing themselves through business shutdowns, tourism losses, even student learning outcomes to name a few.
This is a government whose first decision upon coming to power in November 2014 was to tear up a $1 billion contract to build the vital East-West Link in Melbourne. This road will still need to be built.
But what it shows is that Daniel Andrews is prepared to spend or waste money where and when he wants to, almost at a whim, and most certainly for political gain.
The justice system in Victoria is not a whim — people’s lives are not for playing with.
Premier Andrews needs to focus now on the immediate needs of the courts system and the lives impacted through the delays his decision making has caused.
Justice for the Justice system is vital.
Bev McArthur,
Member for Western Victoria
