A big thank you
I’d like to say a huge public thank you to the delivery driver and owner of Cheesy As Mate. On Friday March 6, I had an unexpected guest arrive at my home. It was the owner of Cheesy As Mate with my wallet. We were heading into the long weekend so I’d just withdrawn a lot of cash and there was also my bank card and lots of other things such as my licence in it. He said the delivery driver had picked it up outside where I had been an hour or two earlier.
The people of Broadford should know the quality and honesty of the people running and working at our local businesses and that the people at Cheesy As Mate are first class!
Michael Bourke,
Broadford.
Question over power line easements
The Allan Labor Government has shown contempt for regional Victorians, the environment, and our vital agricultural sector, by bulldozing through new compulsory acquisition laws for power line easements.
These powers allow the government, transmission firms, and energy distributors to seize farmland for power line easements that ‘may’ be required in the future, without the need for an EES to have even commenced.
This trashes good planning and environmental processes and shows utter disregard for the prime agricultural land we need to grow our food and fibre.
It should alarm every landholder – Labor doesn’t care about your property rights, your business, or your home.
The Nationals fought this legislation and will repeal it if elected to government.
We will also repeal Labor’s land access laws, scrap their emergency services tax, restore farmers’ right to appeal projects, and introduce buffer zones between renewable projects and homes.
We will overhaul the planning process. Agricultural land will be assessed at the outset of any major project. If prime farmland is at risk, the project will be stopped.
Independent agricultural and economic impact assessments will be mandatory upfront for renewables and transmission lines, just like environmental and cultural ones.
Projects like VNI West are tearing communities apart. We will halt them, reassess, and choose routes that do not divide regional Victorians, or sacrifice prime land.
We will keep fighting for real consultation, protection of prime agricultural land, and a planning system that respects regional communities.
Only The Nationals stand up for farmers and ensure they get their fair share.
Emma Kealy,
Deputy Leader of The Nationals