Dr Anne Webster
Member for Mallee
I RECENTLY enjoyed reading demographer Bernard Salt’s piece in The Australian, reminiscing about his Terang upbringing: reading the local paper, listening to the local radio with scarcely a care about Melbourne or events beyond Victoria.
Bernard argued that a city-dweller’s desire for personal safety and a romanticised, somewhat work-from-home country life may be enticing city folk to centres within cooee of Melbourne or other capital cities.
Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong have bloomed thanks to their relative proximity to Melbourne and the largesse of a Victorian Labor Government that cynically apportions taxpayer money (well, future debt actually) for political gain.
Mildura, Swan Hill and Horsham and scores of towns in Mallee suffer next to zero investment from a city-centric government.
Last week in Donald, Wendy shared with me her terrible story that due to several serious medical conditions she has had to sell up and move to Melbourne just to access the healthcare she needs to survive.
Sunraysia residents have inadequate bus services and zero train services and can otherwise only get to Melbourne – or beyond – by plane with high ticket prices.
The only alternative is to take the perilous drive on roads that councils can’t afford to improve.
The Victorian Government prefers to pour billions more (debt) into the Suburban Rail Loop project rather than invest in our region.
At the same time our local news services struggle – Mallee does not have one locally based television news service.
We have become invisible to the state and nation, even to ourselves – unless, as I do, we use satellite TV capability, social media and radio to make ourselves seen and heard.
Mallee produces the food and fibre for our nation and the world. We also frequently stage or host significant tourist drawcard events.
We provide a rapidly growing amount of government revenue to build our gross domestic product but receive nowhere near that investment back into our region.
Mallee residents are justifiably indignant and I continue to serve as your voice in the best form of retaliation that works: politics – demanding a fair go for our region and more broadly for regional Australia.
