Having a chat: Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell, Bruce Dohnt and Campaspe Shire Mayor Rob Amos talking about local issues in the area.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell visited Echuca’s Hopwood Gardens last Wednesday as part of his Sam on the Streets listening tour.
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Mr Birrell said it was important to make sure he took the time to “listen to everyone”.
He said that people came to him with a variety of issues, some within his purview to advise on, and others that he would refer on.
“Of course, I'm the federal representative, but if it's a state issue, then we tell people we'll try and follow it up with the relevant state member or local council,” he said.
Mr Birrell said people “like to feel engaged with their representatives and with politicians” and that it was important to be “accessible” to all constituents.
Let’s talk: Sam Birrell and Sue Auditori spoke about the lack of support for kinship carers.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
On Wednesday people spoke to him about issues such as funding for kinship carers, COVID-19 vaccines and more general local concerns.
Sue Auditori was one of the people who took the opportunity to raise her concerns about the lack of support for kinship carers.
She said that talking to Sam had been “great” and “helped to put things into perspective and to know where to go for more help”.
He said he welcomed people to come to these get-togethers whether or not they had any immediate issues or questions to raise.
“If you just want to just meet me as a person so that if we do have something that you'd need to discuss later on you know me better then everyone's welcome to do that,” he said.
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