ACCESS to housing and better roads were among the issues that have been highlighted to Labor candidate for Murray Plains Damien Hurrell during the state election campaign.
Mr Hurrell visited Swan Hill this week to announce Labor had committed to $8.9 million for modernising and upgrading buildings at Swan Hill North Primary School.
“I was able to have a chat with the principal and a tour and it really looks like a very lovely school,” he said.
“But the main building there was built in 1971. And, although it’s been maintained, that is 50 years ago, so it’s getting a bit tired and could do with some TLC.”
Mr Hurrell said he had been speaking with people across Murray Plains about the issues of most concern.
As well as universal issues, such as good schools, access to TAFE and public transport, he said locals had highlighted the need for more housing and better roads.
“It was really good to see that Murray Plains has been included in the Labor Party’s election promise for $5.3 billion statewide, and over a billion dollars in the regions, for more public and affordable homes,” he said.
“That’s an issue that’s been brought up with me a lot. Another issue is roads, and Murray Plains has had more flooding and more issues with closed roads than many others.”
Mr Hurrell said the Andrews government had already allocated funds to flood recovery in 55 local government areas, including Buloke, Campaspe, Gannawarra and Swan Hill, and more would be forthcoming to repair and improve the region’s roads.
Mr Hurrell is an intensive-care nurse working in patient records for a major public hospital in regional Victoria.
He also volunteers as a train driver with the Victorian Goldfields Railway, which operates between Castlemaine and Maldon.
Mr Hurrell said his interest in politics was sparked by the 2011-12 dispute when the Baillieu-Napthine government tried to bargain away nurse to patient ratios that were set in 2000.
As a member of what is now the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, he was “involved in a fairly big way” but, even though the campaign was successful, decided being an active union member wasn’t enough.
“I needed to do everything I could to make sure that services like health were managed in the best way possible,” he said.
“So I joined the Labor Party, because they were the ones that aligned with my values, and have been active since. And I’m running for election in Murray Plains for similar reasons.”
Mr Hurrell was preselected for Murray Plains after the death in August of Peter Williams, who contested the electorate for Labor in 2014 and 2018.
Mr Williams received 26.05 per cent of the vote to the 73.95 per cent amassed by sitting member Peter Walsh in 2018.
Mr Hurrell said he would be “very honoured” if he was elected on November 26, but it was more important for him to share the Labor story, the party’s achievements while in government and its future plans.
“This thing we call democracy is a wonderful and precious thing,” he said.
“But it works best when there’s a contest of ideas, so that’s what I’m going to do and I will leave the result in the hands of the voters, where it belongs.”
