THE Victorian upper house will sit in a regional area impacted by last year’s floods after a flow of bipartisan support.
Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell’s motion for the regional sitting was passed unanimously in the Legislative Council last Wednesday.
The Liberal MP said the challenges of flood recovery would continue for some time and it was important those challenges continued to be brought to the attention of all politicians.
“The economies of flood-affected communities need assistance to recover, and a regional sitting would provide a significant boost due to the hiring of venues and catering and the need for accommodation for members of parliament, their staff and the staff of the parliament,” Ms Lovell told parliament.
“This is not cost-prohibitive for the parliament, but it would provide a great benefit to local communities in the flood areas.”
The location and date of the regional sitting would be determined by parliamentary officials after consultation with flood-affected local government authorities.
“I would encourage all of you to visit the flood-affected area now as well as coming up to the region for a regional sitting,” Ms Lovell said.
“Bring your empty eskies, stay overnight, spend some money in our communities and fill those eskies with some of our great produce to bring back to Melbourne.”
Fellow Northern Victoria MPs The Nationals’ Gaelle Broad and One Nation’s Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell supported the motion.
“Six months on, it is important that we do not forget these regional communities impacted by floods,” Ms Broad said.
“When the floods first occurred people came to assist from across the state.
“In Rochester, shortly after the floods I met people who had driven up from Melbourne to bring food and supplies, but as the months roll on and local communities continue to rebuild, it is important that we continue to support them.”
Ms Broad said some people didn’t know Victoria had a Parliament House.
“I was recently with a group of young adults visiting Melbourne from central Victoria, and one of them was very surprised to learn that Victoria actually had a Parliament House.
“It is time that we got out of Melbourne and into the regions and let people know that this parliament governs for all of Victoria.”
Ms Tyrrell said the local economy would benefit from a regional sitting.
“Our hospitality industries, our petrol stations and even the local pharmacy, should we hit the town hard on our sitting night,” she said.
“It is also good to provide a regional sitting to those who have difficulty accessing parliament here in Melbourne. It is a big job for schools to organise a trip to Melbourne, as it is for those with disabilities and the elderly who find it hard to travel.”
Ms Lovell said the floods continued along rivers “long after people got over the visuals on the television”.
“We saw the communities in Kerang and Charlton and even in Mildura impacted by these floods,” she said.
“For those of us who are members for Northern Victoria, we saw these floods travel right throughout our state.
“They started up where the Murray starts and travelled down the Murray River. They started up at Lake Eildon and travelled through the Goulburn River, through the Campaspe River or through the Loddon River.”
