Pyalong hamper success
The July 29 edition of the North Central Review reported on the Pyalong Neighbourhood House’s 2025 Food Hampers for Farmers Project.
The project involves distribution of food hampers and working dog food to drought-stricken farming families in the north-west of Mitchell Shire, including Pyalong, High Camp, Glenaroua, Tooborac, Emu Flat and Nulla Vale.
The aim is to provide a thank you hamper and dog food to our drought affected farmers. This project is one way to remind our farming families that they are not alone, that the community stands with them and appreciates all their hard work and efforts to provide us with food.
So far, over sixty packages have been distributed, with more ready to go. To ensure that we reach all our wonderful farmers, those farming families who have not yet received a hamper etc, are invited to please contact us on 0407549171 and we will arrange delivery.
To the Bendigo Bank and everyone in the community who has helped with this great effort, thank you very, very much.
Moira Waye
President
Pyalong Neighbourhood House, Inc
Curriculum agenda
I believe that there are two genders, male and female, and any curriculum being delivered in Victorian schools that contradicts this fact, such as the Respectful Relationships program, is completely unacceptable.
I am not alone in sharing this view of course, with every one of my constituents who has spoken to me on this issue, and dare I say the majority of Victorians think the same. Respect should be shown by everyone to everyone, regardless of gender, race, social status or sexual orientation.
But there is no place in our schools for children as young as five being taught that their body parts may not match their gender. Curriculum that could lead educators to persuade a child that they were born in the wrong body could cause irreversible harm and is abhorrent.
School is not the appropriate place for such conversations but should be introduced to children by their parents in the privacy of their own home, if they wish to do so.
Premier Jacinta Allan’s unwarranted attack on The Australian newspaper during a media conference yesterday shows that she is completely tone deaf to the beliefs of the majority of Victorians on this issue. To indoctrinate gender fluidity and non-binary ideology onto our children is both irresponsible and wrong.
Rickie-Lee Tyrrell
Member for northern Victoria
Priorities all wrong
The Allan Labor Government has once again shown that it can’t manage finances, can’t keep our community safe, and it is Victorians that are paying the price.
In the middle of a record-breaking crime wave, Labor has chosen to spend $13 million on 40 “machete bins” across Victoria. That money would have been far better spent supporting our police and strengthening community safety.
Instead, we are seeing funding cuts to Victoria Police, staff shortages at local stations, reduced operating hours at regional courts, and the closure of Dhurringile Prison.
These decisions are leaving frontline officers stretched to breaking point and putting community safety at risk.
More than 1,100 police positions remain unfilled, and since November last year, 43 police stations have either shut their doors or reduced hours simply because there are not enough officers to keep them open.
In regional Victoria, this means longer response times, fewer patrols, and communities left vulnerable while crime continues to rise. Labor’s priorities could not be more out of touch.
Instead of investing in frontline policing, improving court access, and properly managing offenders, this government is wasting millions on expensive gimmicks.
Regional Victorians deserve better. We deserve a government that backs our police, restores vital services, and takes community safety seriously – not one that treats law and order as a publicity stunt.
Annabelle Cleeland
Member for Euroa