Nathan Spicer looks back at the events and issues from November in The Guardian’s Year in Review series.
Tuesday, November 22
• The SES responded to 43 requests for assistance in the Loddon Mallee region over the previous weekend after a major storm hit. A severe weather warning was in effect with the potential for gusts of up to 110km/h. Large gum trees were uprooted on the banks of the Murray River at Riverside Park.
• The NSW SES issued a prepare to evacuate warning for Moulamein township as the rising Edward River threatens to isolate the community. An evacuation centre was set up at the Deniliquin Basketball Centre. The Edward River at Moulamein was sitting at a major flood level of 6.12m.
Friday, November 25
• Service groups in Swan Hill hope to “bring the community with them” in their quest to raise $3 million to build an emergency housing facility for family violence victim-survivors. In Swan Hill, domestic violence incidents occur at a rate of 3.332 per 100,000 population and the local government area ranked highest for this kind of violence out of 79 in Victoria.
• Murray-Darling Basin water ministers were urged to “draw a line in the sand” and return water by “proven methods” by the chief executive of Environment Victoria, Jono La Nauze, after a report found environmental water recovery by efficiency projects could fall short by more than 50 per cent.
Tuesday, November 29
• Peter Walsh retains his Murray Plains seat for a sixth term strolling to victory with a huge 63 per cent of first-preference votes. The Nationals leader secured 22,408 firstpreference votes compared to Labor candidate Damien Hurrell’s 6571. After preferences, Mr Walsh had amassed 73.7 per cent of the vote.
• Swan Hill’s CBD turned orange when dozens of people walked to say no to family violence. Swan Hill Mayor Les McPhee and others led the contingent along Campbell Street to mark the start of 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
