Honesty and transparency
Dear Editor,
The Member for McEwen accuses me of not ‘being honest with the facts’ (Review 18/02/25), so let’s look at some ‘honest facts.’
Yes, I did stand alongside the Liberal members in Wallan and supported their commitment to build a bypass. I was also a former returning officer of the Mill Park branch of the Labor Party in the mid-80s, but soon left that branch because of their dictatorial attitude.
Mr Mitchell says that neither State nor Federal Labor promised a bypass, yet in 2014 it was the State Labor Government that announced a western bypass option for Kilmore and Wallan. It was also the State Labor Government that later removed Wallan from the bypass.
The problem with Labor politicians is that they have a 24 hour memory span and have no experience in their portfolios which explains the massive numbers of public servants and advisers that they rely on, all at taxpayers’ expense of course.
I suggest that the Member for McEwen read the front page of the Review (28/01/25) where both the Mitchell Shire Council and the Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes indicated that the ‘Project is a priority.’
Let’s have a look at some of Labor’s ‘honest facts’:
Premier John Cain: Nothing wrong with Pyramid Building Society—until it closed its doors and cost a retiree his $50,000 investment in Pyramid.
Peter Batchelor: In 1999, said that Labor would build the rail extension from Epping to South Morang ‘in the first term of office,’ then a media release after Labor was elected said that it would not be built until 2021.
Then along comes the Member for McEwen himself, telling Wallan residents that funding for the Nexus Super Clinic would be lost if the clinic wasn’t built in Hadfield Park. This was exposed by a member of the bypass group and Wallan resident when she emailed the then-minister Nicola Roxon, who replied that the money would still be there if the land wasn’t. I trust that she will continue in her role of exposing Labor’s ‘promises’ as a councillor.
The first line of Labor’s 2014 platform on Transparency states, ‘Governments must be Honest and Transparent.’ Are we ever going to see an ‘Honest and Transparent’ Labor Government at any level in Australia? I think we all know the answer to that question.
Brian Mawhinney
Traralgon
Petty paybacks
Dear Editor,
I was rather amused to read Rob Mitchell’s letter in the Review (18/02/25). It shows that even a Member of Federal Parliament is not immune from petty paybacks. His comments about Brian Mawhinney were exceptionally childish and shows the Labor Party has no intention of helping build a bypass for Kilmore or Wallan.
The road is a Victorian State road, not Federal, and Mr Mitchell is a Federal Member. But even then, he has never shown any interest in any way to alleviate the destruction from the trucks of a small town like Kilmore in ways that he could. He seems to neither care nor do anything to make the suffering of the town any easier, but throws arrows at a man who lived in Kilmore for a long time, and still tries to, in his own way, bring the bypass need into focus.
Mr Mitchell is putting his head up now an election is coming, but to my way of thinking, has done himself a disservice in his comments.
I was the secretary of the Wallan/Kilmore Bypass Group and worked 24/7 for several years until my health gave out, and so did Mr Mawhinney. We would love to see young blood get the community together as we did. Unfortunately, it appears that VicRoads have no intention of actually building a bypass—in fact, they managed to divide the town rather successfully with the help of a resident that was concerned it may affect his property and had a certain amount of clout in the town at the time.
Initially, the route people were most in favour of was from the Clonbinane turn-off, which went across Broadford Road to the Northern Highway. There were no homes to be destroyed by mostly using road reserves that were already in place, and the Clonbinane turn-off. The cost at the time was around $120-130 million. My husband and I drove through it, with no problems along the laneways. It was sensible and got the trucks and through traffic away from both towns, and enabled the Broadford south people to access the freeway with ease. It was also the shortest route.
Instead of that, VicRoads forced other options that divided the town and then decided ‘West was best,’ but so far the plans seem to have been put in the bottom drawer, firmly locked. This plan only really helped Kilmore, not our sister towns Wallan or Wandong.
We fought for a bypass, with no pay (unlike Mr Mitchell’s Federal pay packet), but we’re foiled on every turn by bureaucracy, false information, and using well-tried principles such as the Delphi principal to thwart any attempts to get a bypass.
The Bypass Group during their eight years had many information sessions about the bypass both in Kilmore and Wallan, and not once did Rob Mitchell attend any of those sessions either as a ratepayer or politician. So much for saying that ‘He’s here for us.’
Wendy Law
Nuclear deserts
Dear Editor,
Some politicians propose replacing coal-fired power stations with nuclear reactors. Even pro-nuclear group Nuclear for Australia concedes nuclear reactors use at least 1.2 times more water than comparable coal fired power, and the proposed reactors are much larger than existing coal plants, meaning water use could more than double.
Some suggest desalination plants to supply water for nuclear reactors, but this requires seawater, and nearly all the proposed reactor sites are a long way inland. Desalination is also extremely costly.
As a core principle, Farmers for Climate Action stands for protecting regional water supplies and does not support making water scarcer or more expensive for farmers.
Natalie Collard
Farmers for Climate Action
Green waste bin too small
Dear Editor,
Was back in Kilmore seeing my family and cannot believe the size of the green waste bin. Why is it the same size as the rubbish bin and not the size of the recycling bin? Most councils in Melbourne have the green waste bin the size of the recycling bin. This way, the residents can keep their gardens how they want, looking great. After all, Victoria was known as The Garden State on our number plates before the premiers of the state kept on changing it.
Matthew Meier
