Deputy Leader of The Nationals
Jacinta Allan finally held her first press conference as premier in her hometown, Bendigo, on Friday, November 24, a whole two months after taking the keys to the premier’s private office.
For someone who should be championing regional Victoria, it took far too long to invite the parliamentary press pack to bounce along our crumbling country roads and experience regional Victoria.
Sadly, those two months of regional inactivity, even in her own seat, are emblematic of a big city premier presiding over a government that continues to snub regional areas.
Premier Allan can’t manage money, can’t manage projects and can’t stand up for Victorians — with hard-working regional Victorians copping it even harder than their city counterparts.
The premier has been the minister responsible for 90 per cent of Labor’s massive cost blowouts, meaning more than $12 million a day is being paid to the big banks rather than fixing our roads, hospitals and schools.
Premier Allan’s debt-building legacy is hitting every Victorian in the hip pocket right now, with cost-of-living expenses including our water bills, power bills and even car registration going through the roof.
The premier was the minister responsible for the Commonwealth Games when that fiasco erupted, the cancellation impacting on so many hard-working regional Victorians.
And there is no sign Premier Allan is doing anything to bridge the great divide between city and country.
Analysis from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) shows that only 15 per cent of total asset investment in Labor’s latest budget is taking place in the bush — despite 25 per cent of Victorians living in the regions.
Our regional roads are in decay, with Labor cutting the road maintenance budget by 45 per cent since 2020.
Premier Allan may have appeared at Bendigo Health when she finally fronted in her hometown last week, but it was wallpaper over the cracks of a regional health system in crisis.
The masterplan for an outdated Mildura Base Public Hospital is locked in a vault and much-needed redevelopments of the Bairnsdale, Swan Hill and Hamilton hospitals are in limbo.
It’s time for Premier Allan to remember where she’s from. It’s time regional Victoria was rewarded with its fair share.
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