Fire facts
I am writing as a local resident regarding recent commentary about the fire at the former church site in Kilmore.
Firstly, it is important to acknowledge that a fire occurred and that this is unfortunate for the property owners. No one in our community would wish that on anyone.
However, it is equally important that the situation is described accurately. The building is not an approved mosque. While there may be intentions for it to become one in the future, that process has not yet been completed. Referring to it as a “mosque” at this stage is misleading and does not reflect the current status of the building.
In addition, early claims suggesting the building had been deliberately firebombed were serious and concerning. It is widely understood that authorities have indicated the fire was not a targeted attack. Continuing to use or promote accusatory language after this point risks creating unnecessary division and unfairly reflecting on the people of Kilmore.
There is also a broader concern about how local residents are being portrayed. Kilmore is a welcoming community, but it is not a community that responds well to being implicitly blamed or spoken about as though it has done something wrong. That approach does not build goodwill.
If there is a genuine desire to become part of this town, it would be far more constructive to engage with residents respectfully, acknowledge the proper processes, and allow facts — not assumptions — to shape the conversation. Suggesting wrongdoing or using loaded language will not bring people together, nor will it encourage the kind of acceptance that any new group would hope for.
Kilmore residents value fairness, transparency, and mutual respect. Those principles should guide how this matter is discussed moving forward.
A Kilmore resident
Name and address supplied
Petrol prices
IS THE Federal Government going to immediately increase people’s pensions by 50 per cent to compensate us for inaction against the oil companies obscenely increasing fuel prices, which also flows onto everything else we buy?
Is the government going to immediately ban all exports of our oil and gas production and keep it all to ourselves, and reduce prices back to where they were previously, and also ban all oil and gas imports?
If not, look out at the next election.
Russell Bardi Wandjina
Tasmania
A fair share for regional Victoria
The height of disrespect is for any government to ignore the very people it represents.
A very real example of this is the Allan Labor Government bulldozing through new laws allowing the government, transmission firms, and energy distributors to seize farmland for power lines, without approval. These new powers were hurried through without the government undertaking any community engagement.
So it comes as no surprise recent data revealed 50 per cent of Victorians said they felt “mostly” or “completely” unheard by government, and of those who felt completely unheard, 29 per cent were from regional Victoria.
Regional Victorians have been ignored by Labor since it came to government in 2014. The independent Budget Office confirms regional Victorians currently receive only 12 per cent of the state’s infrastructure investment despite being home to 25 per cent of the population.
Labor has done nothing to fix and upgrade regional roads, sat on its hands on regional crime and firebombings, ripped millions of economic benefits from the regions by cancelling the Commonwealth Games, allowed housing to drop to record lows, done nothing on fuel shortages, and turned a blind eye on corruption – money that could have gone to roads, schools and hospitals in regional Victoria.
The Nationals will always fight for regional Victoria and ensure it gets its fair share.
Regional Victorians deserve to be heard and will get a chance to remove the Allan Labor Government at this year’s November election.
Danny O’Brien,
Leader of The Nationals
Petrol panic
The Deputy Leader of the National Party, Emma Kealy, states in her letter to the editor dated March 24 that “The New South Wales Government is rationing fuel in urban areas”.
As of March 27, the NSW government website (NSW Fuel Supply Update], states that “The NSW Government is not introducing emergency powers or restrictions on travel or fuel use.
There is enough misinformation being spread by irresponsible people on various social media without a senior member of the Victoria Parliament doing likewise via respected, local media.
Mick Hempenstall