The bypass, health, super school and water will be central in the next few months of Victorian Parliament for our two Shepparton-based politicians.
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State Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed and State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell, along with their colleagues, return to Spring St this week.
Both are eyeing off what funding can be secured in the May state budget, particularly for education.
“My number one priority for this year’s budget is funding for the Shepparton Education Plan,” Ms Sheed said.
“The school year has gotten off to a positive start and there has been a noticeable air of excitement from many parents, carers and students.
“Now we need the funding for the construction of the campus and, based on the very positive comments from the Premier and Education Minister James Merlino last year, I have confidence we will see the funding required for Greater Shepparton Secondary College in the coming budget.”
Ms Sheed said the funding would provide a high standard of education in modern facilities that would allow students to achieve to the best of their abilities.
She said this year she would also focus on a full residential mother-baby unit, stage three of the Shepparton railway line upgrade and stage two of Goulburn Valley Health.
“Our community continues to need investment in a wide range of projects which have been identified in documents prepared by Greater Shepparton City Council and Committee for Greater Shepparton,” Ms Sheed said.
“Despite the bushfire crisis and other issues facing the government, we will be lobbying strongly for Shepparton District to continue to receive the outstanding investment that is so visibly stimulating our region.”
Ms Lovell said this week would not have the usual parliamentary proceedings due to condolence motions for former Premier John Cain and bushfire victims — that will take up a bulk of the time.
The upper house member said when there was an opportunity this week, the main focus — from a Shepparton point of view — would be pushing the government to provide a solution for the Murchison DP Jones Aged Care facility.
Ms Lovell said when proceedings were back in full swing, commitments would become her priority.
“There needs to be commitments for the super school and hospital,” Ms Lovell said.
She said water security was another priority, as well as Shepparton receiving nine V/Line services per day.
The Shepparton Bypass remains a contentious issue, as there are fears the government will again delay releasing the business case that was promised "next year" in November.
“The business case for the Shepparton Bypass has to be released before May; we're waiting for that funding,” Ms Lovell said.
“I don't have any confidence they (government) have a commitment to the bypass project.
“That pressure needs to be maintained because we saw what happened with the Echuca-Moama bridge.”
The Federal Government has already committed $280 million for stage one of the bypass.
Ms Sheed said she planned to bring the Shepparton Bypass forward at the start of this year's parliament.
“The Shepparton Bypass is a major point of advocacy and my office is constantly liaising with (Transport Infrastructure) Minister (Jacinta) Allan’s staff and with the minister herself.
“While I was disappointed the bypass business case was not released late last year as planned, I am agitating to find out what the reason for delay is and ensure that any hurdles are overcome so that this important piece of work can be completed as soon as possible and clarity around the amount required to build the bypass made clear.”
Despite the hopes of securing money in the state budget for the Shepparton electorate, Ms Sheed said there were no guarantees
“ ... which is why we must continuously advocate as strongly as possible,” she said.
“My job is made easier by the ongoing support of local organisations such as the Committee for Greater Shepparton and the Shepparton Bypass Action Group in keeping the focus on the important areas of need.
“The Andrews Government has made many strong financial commitments to our region in its first term and I am confident the Premier and Treasurer, along with the rest of the ministry, will continue to acknowledge and commit to fixing the many needs of our region following decades of neglect under previous governments.”
Ms Sheed said parliament is an important lobbying and advocating tool for herself to represent Shepparton.
"It is a great privilege to have been elected to represent the Shepparton District in the Victorian Parliament and I am looking forward to the year ahead. There is a lot to get done and not just the securing of further funding for our region," Ms Sheed said.
"Water policy remains a major concern for our region and one which I am heavily involved in both within the region and at Parliament.
"Parliamentary sitting weeks are often the best time and place to advocate across a range of issues and I am looking forward to sitting down with members of the government and discussing how we can continue to improve outcomes in the Shepparton District and in relation to water, across the whole Southern Murray Darling Basin.
"In Parliament, I have a lot of tools at my disposal such as question time, questions on notice, grievance debates, speaking on bills and constituency questions to raise issues that need attention, many of which are directly brought to my office by my constituents."
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