Regional Victoria betrayed
DANIEL Andrews has betrayed regional Victoria by chaining our future to Melbourne.
The regional 14-day average has dropped to zero, but the lives and livelihoods of country people continue to be gutted by the premier’s arrogant focus on the city.
According to the current roadmap, our future still depends on no new cases across the whole state — including in Melbourne — for 14 days.
I share the frustration and anger of all regional Victorians who have been patient, we’ve followed the rules and endured the devastating social and economic battering — even in communities that have never had a case of COVID in nine months.
We’ve done the right thing to save lives, as shutdowns isolated us from friends and family, forced hundreds of thousands of people out of work and closed small businesses that were turning a healthy profit just months before.
We are desperate for change. To be unshackled from Melbourne and for our own roadmap to recovery.
The Andrews Labor Government is paralysed by its poor contact tracing which it still can’t get right after nine months.
While Labor’s failing the basics, it’s failing Victorians.
At a time when we should be on-track for a safe move to COVID normal, Daniel Andrews is is only offering more job losses, more closed businesses and more pain for each and every Victorian.
Peter Walsh,
Leader of The Nationals
Member for Murray Plains
Perfect canvass
DURING the COVID lockdown, I have been listening to a lot of talk-back radio.
I have noticed that many callers talk about visiting the state’s regional areas.
I have lived in the country most of my life and it also amazes me how ignorant many of the callers are about what the regions have to offer, and often even where many of the regional towns are in their own state.
Callers regularly talk about the silo art that first started in Brim and now seems to be an Australia-wide phenomenon.
It got me thinking further and wondering why Swan Hill haven’t embraced this undoubted tourist attraction.
Is it because they are a little complacent because they have the Pioneer Settlement which gets a lot of money thrown at it?
Or, maybe it is like the infamous bridge that has divided both the community and council for so many years, and no-one can make a decision one way or another?
The silos in Curlewis Street would provide a perfect canvass for a Burke and Wills mural, right opposite the well-visited Burke and Wills tree?
And what about the Lake Boga silos adorned with a Catalina themed mural?
And the silos at Woorinen South with a working Mallee wheat/sheep farm scene?
There are many more silos in the area that could be made into a whole local silo trail on its own.
Such a trail would attract additional tourists to the region and also be an additional attraction to keep visitors in the area a little longer.
All it needs is a bit of vision, enthusiasm and proactivity to make it happen.
Perhaps the council could cast aside some complacency, show some vision and allocate some money in their budget to get something started.
Some of the region’s movers and shakers might also get behind the program and help raise some money from the communities that would benefit.
Every resident benefits from increased tourist stays in the region.
I am a former resident of Swan Hill and still own property there.
I was closely involved in the hospitality industry and found that many visitors complained that apart from the Pioneer Settlement, which was an expensive family outing, and the Catalina Museum, the district did not have a lot to offer tourists for a prolonged stay.
A local silo trail would certainly help allay such visitor concerns as well as introducing visitors to the small outlying towns which they may not normally visit or even know they existed. Our small regional towns have so much to offer if only people take the time to visit them.
Peter J Holt
