Wednesday, 10 September 2025

 Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (19:06): (1312) My adjournment is to the Minister for Small Business and Employment, and the action seek is that small businesses in the communities of Porepunkah, Bright and Ovens are desperate for an economic support package. It is well documented what is happening in the beautiful community of Porepunkah. One of the largest manhunts in Victoria’s history is going on. The Porepunkah community did not ask for this. They do not deserve this. This is a tourist town, a tourist destination. We are now entering week 3 of these towns being devoid of income – no tourists, no income and no likelihood of change. The Victoria Police are doing their very, very best to find this murderer, and they have asked people to avoid the area, and that is for good reason. This is sound advice, and we all understand why. But respectfully, when a government authority tells people to stay away from a tourist destination, it is fair to say the state government has a responsibility to support the town’s viability, its economic stability and the people who call Porepunkah home, because these people in this community are still getting their rates notices and still paying their emergency services tax and their payroll tax, and of course their power bills do not stop because a manhunt is on in their town. We need support to defer the quarterly BASs, we need cash to help pay full-time wages and we need funds to ensure we can pay the landlords.

The communities of Porepunkah and Bright are close-knit and they look out for each other, but it is fair to say cracks are beginning to appear. Mental health support has been available, but may I say, for some their mental health concerns will disappear overnight if they know that their businesses and their livelihoods are safe. This disaster is unprecedented. When a community has a flood or a bushfire, the incident comes, it wreaks havoc and then it leaves, and then the clean-up begins. The Porepunkah and Bright communities have absolutely no idea when the clean-up begins, and they need help until that occurs. Minister, I desperately seek your support.