Rochy visit: Opposition leader John Pesutto and State Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh meet with Rochester recovery committee members Brad Major, from Major's IGA, and Leigh Wilson.
State Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said last Tuesday’s visit to Rochester by Opposition leader John Pesutto was the next big step in getting more assistance and funding for the town fast-tracked.
Listening: Rochester Community House general manager Amanda Logie talks with John Pesutto, Peter Walsh and Leigh Wilson.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Mr Pesutto was given a grassroots introduction to the major challenges facing this “flood-devastated community”, which will enable the whole Opposition to develop what Mr Walsh described as an aggressive “and in-your-face campaign against the Andrews Labor Government for its failure to properly and quickly help in Rochester’s recovery”.
Insight: Pharmacist Brett Phillips said he had plenty to cope with, with flooding just part of the problem, and he endeavoured to ensure locals had access to their vital medications.
Mr Walsh said the Opposition leader was appalled to discover about 40 per cent of the population had still not returned home, and many of those who had were still living in caravans and tents in backyards.
“I took John to meet with the local recovery committee, the Lake Eppalock Working Group, some of the businesses which had survived — barely — the 2022 inundation, and the local community house,” he said.
“And everywhere you go the story is the same — not only not enough funding and support, but still waiting on a fair whack of the promised government money, which has only been dribbling through.
“Yet through all this, the locals are still putting on a brave face. But it can’t be easy.
“One chap we spoke with still has his mother, who is in her late 80s, still stuck in a caravan in the backyard of her gutted house.”
Discussion: In Major’s IGA are owner Brad Major, Peter Walsh and John Pesutto.
Mr Walsh said he was delighted when Mr Pesutto accepted his invitation to visit Rochester to help “keep the town and its challenges in the political and public eye”.
One of the things that really impressed Mr Pesutto was the “classic Rochy fighting spirit”.
Everyone the group spoke to agreed things might not be so good with their situation, but many others were doing it much tougher.
“The take-home message for John was the sheer scale of the problems still being faced by this community, especially in mental health, and we will both be taking it back before the parliament as soon as it resumes,” Mr Walsh said.
“Perhaps the Andrews Labor Government can invest a worthwhile sum of the money left following (last) week’s Commonwealth Games debacle in helping this devastated and deserving community.
“But as impressive as the people are, there is absolutely no doubt the mental health issue is going to become a lot worse before it gets better, and none of us were left in any doubt of that.
“For so many of the locals, for way too many, this is the second time in a decade they have been flooded, along with many of the surrounding agricultural districts, so in a way you can understand what they must be going through as they face rebuilding their lives once again.
“Tradies are as short as government MPs showing any interest in this part of the state — although some portable mini-housing is coming to the local caravan park, a big win for those wanting to get back into their home town one way or another, or those trapped in the evacuation facility at Elmore.”
Mr Walsh said he would also like to thank the people of Rochester who came to talk with him and Mr Pesutto, and for sharing their problems in such an open and honest manner.
He thanked recovery committee members Leigh Wilson and Brad Major for helping organise meetings and hosting the morning visit, including the protest banner hoisted on the Shamrock Hotel balcony in the town’s busiest corner, supporting local efforts to get levels lowered in Lake Eppalock.
“Do it Dan, drop the dam,” it reads.
“It is committees such as theirs, and the flood mitigation committee, which are doing some of the most valuable work on the ground locally and also providing their families, friends and neighbours with contact people who have their fingers on the pulse of this ongoing recovery,” Mr Walsh said.
