Tuesday, 2 May 2023

 Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (15:40): Over the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of hosting several of our great shadow ministers in the Euroa electorate. Our Shadow Minister for Health Georgie Crozier met with local hospitals and community health services, who are incredibly nervous about the state’s financial emergency caused by the Andrews government. This is anticipated to lead to further cuts in the health sector which will, worryingly, see reduced or inferior services being provided to our regional communities. The Deputy Leader of the Nationals and Shadow Minister for Agriculture Emma Kealy visited the Benalla abattoir, which was broken into by animal activists with no regard for workers, local business or safety. On a lighter note, she also saw the great work the University of Melbourne’s Dookie campus is undertaking with several regional contributions to our economy and the ag industry. The Shadow Minister for Home Ownership and Housing Affordability Jess Wilson met with regional leaders in construction, real estate, planning and development and heard about the burden being placed on businesses due to a broken planning system and the economic headwinds caused by this financially incompetent government. Finally, on Thursday the Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell spoke to our resilient local businesses, who have survived COVID and the floods but are now being punished by this tax-obsessed government. We are the highest taxed people in the country, and this continues to hamper regional development. While the government makes decisions from the city and for the city, I thank our great team of shadow ministers for coming to the regions and hearing what needs to be done to improve our livability, cut through red tape and support regional Victoria.