August 2019
Monday, 05 August 2019 14:11
Bull wins trespass hearing in Bairnsdale
Bairnsdale will host a hearing of the Inquiry into the Impact of Animal Rights Activism on Victorian Agriculture.
Following requests to the committee from Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull to hold an East Gippsland hearing, a session will be held at the Bairnsdale RSL on Tuesday, August 20.
Mr Bull said that he was pleased to see that a number of submissions had come from East Gippsland, which he had encouraged, as these submissions will provide locally relevant evidence to inform the Committee’s final recommendations.
“It is important that East Gippsland residents have the opportunity to speak to their submissions which is why I lobbied the Committee to hold a hearing in Bairnsdale,” said Mr Bull.
“Our farmers deserve to be safe at work and in their homes, but that’s not been the case while law-breaking activists feel they can invade farms and steal livestock, only to get a slap on the wrist.
“The Nationals stand with our farmers and rural communities, and this Bairnsdale hearing is a welcome opportunity to deliver the views of our community,” said Mr Bull.
Under the inquiry’s terms of reference, the Victorian Legislative Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee will consider the effectiveness of legislation and other measures to prevent and deter activities by unauthorised persons on agricultural and associated industries
The Committee will provide its final report to Parliament by November 28.
Published in
Media
Thursday, 01 August 2019 13:20
Labor stalling on Bonang Highway
The Andrews Labor Government has not committed to matching the $2m in Federal money to seal the remaining unsealed section of the Bonang Highway, and in doing so has embarrassingly called into question its own costing of the work.
In response to a question from Gippsland East MP Tim Bull, Roads Minister, Jaala Pulford would not commit and cited the state needed to ensure ‘sufficient funds are provided by the Commonwealth’, which clearly questions the $4million costing.
“Embarrassingly, this figure came from her own government and was provided by the former Roads Minister. He wrote to Gippsland Federal MP, Darren Chester and included this figure in his correspondence, which formed the basis of Mr Chester’s commitment, said Mr Bull.
“So what the Minister is now doing is placing doubt on a costing that her own Government came up with, as an excuse to avoid providing the matching funding
“The Minister’s response also said the funding was ‘subject to negotiations between State and Federal Ministers’ and that ‘the Victorian Government looks forward to these discussions to ensure the Commonwealth funding is targeting at the right projects’.
Mr Bull labelled the answer ‘bureaucratic gobbledygook” and said the Minister was trying to make something very simple into a complex matter to avoid committing.
“It really is quite simple. The project has been costed at $4million by her own Department and the Federal Government through Darren Chester has committed its share based on this. Nothing more needs to be done other than the state committing its share.
“When this is done a timeframe can be established in consultation with the local stakeholders who use this road,” said Mr Bull.
Caption: Member for Gippsland East Tim Bull says that the Roads Minister is using thin excuses to avoid funding the Bonang Highway, which recently was the scene of a frightening truck rollover.
Published in
Media
