THE Victorian Government has voted down an Opposition motion for the Lower House to sit in a regional community, arguing the regions were represented by a “significant” number of Labor MPs.
“I think the motion that has been put up is making the assumption that there are not a lot of regional members on this side of the house,” Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke said.
“There are more regional members on this side of the house than on that side of the house.
“It is also making the assumption that ministers do not regularly visit these regions, are not aware of the issues and have not spoken to those communities.
“It is making the assumption that work is not actually happening behind the scenes to resolve some of these issues as well.”
Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh on Thursday moved that the Legislative Assembly meet and sit in a flood-affected community in northern Victoria for one day in October or November.
The motion was defeated 24-51.
“For us in this chamber, us being the people’s house, I think it would be very, very appropriate that the Legislative Assembly also sits in regional Victoria in the not-too-distant future so that the house can go out and can see first hand the damage that was caused by the floods of last October but more importantly now see how slow the flood recovery is going,” Mr Walsh said.
“The flood-recovery funding has been far too slow, and as I talk to local government areas, they are extremely frustrated that they have not been able to get on with the job of repairing the roads and repairing their infrastructure as was the case after the 2011 floods.
“To show respect to those communities, I would urge those on the other side of the chamber to support this motion and agree to this motion so that we can go out and have a regional sitting.”
Member for South Barwon Darren Cheeseman said the Labor Government had a “significant number of MPs who are from our beautiful regions”.
“We have got a huge number of members of the government who have been working tirelessly day in and day out making a strong case for our regions, and we will continue to do that day in and day out, fighting for our fair share,” Mr Cheeseman said.
Albert Park MP Nina Taylor said the suggestion that members of the government had never been to regional Victoria was a “furphy”.
“We are absolutely sensitive and acutely aware of the incredible challenges faced by regional Victoria, no less than our regional members themselves,” she said.
“Of course collectively we have deep compassion for the circumstances of Victorians in regional Victoria, absolutely, and across the entire state.
“We just do not represent one area or another; we govern for the whole of Victoria.”
Speaking after the debate, Mr Walsh said the government had “again snubbed” regional Victoria.
“The government should be ashamed for voting against taking all of the Victorian Parliament to the northern Victorian communities affected by last year’s floods,” he said.
“The Legislative Council sat in Bright during the last term of parliament, but the Legislative Assembly hasn’t left Melbourne since Daniel Andrews became Premier in 2014, and that’s utterly disgraceful.
“You can never understand the impacts of a natural disaster, or help fix it, from behind a desk in Melbourne; you have to get out there, see it first hand, and hear from the locals.”
The Upper House in May voted to sit in a regional community sometime in the next 12 months.
