Sam Birrell
Nicholls · National Party · Australia
“They will put it maybe in New South Wales, Western Australia or Queensland, but they won't even consider Victoria. The taxes, the government interference and now this proposed work-from-home legislation just mean that Victoria is not an option.”
“The Mitchell Shire Council has identified the Kilmore-Wallan Bypass as one of the highest advocacy priorities, but the project has been languishing for years. The bypass is essential to improve safety, reduce congestion and return the historic town centre to local residents and businesses.”
“As I've often said in this place, it's a great privilege to represent the electorate of Nicholls in northern Victoria, one of the great food-producing parts of Australia. Recently, I had the great honour to go to a place called Legacy Packing in Cobram for the official relaunch of their state-of-the-art packing facility.”
“As at the last election, the AEC boundary changes meant that the town of Kilmore came into the electorate that I represent, the electorate of Nicholls, and Kilmore is one of the oldest inland towns in Australia. It's a beautiful place. It has bluestone buildings, a historic jail and a monument to Hume and Hovell.”
“A major agribusiness operator in northern Victoria who operates very successfully has told me: 'We're doing no more investment in Australia. The government's making it too hard.”
“We've also got high-tech investment in the dairy industry and the apple and pear industry and we have some new investments in the processing facility SPC, which is an iconic brand in Australia that processes peaches, pears, apples and also tomatoes.”
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“So I came in here and I wanted to talk about the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, what had happened and the way it could have been rolled out. I couldn't be more disappointed in what the Labor government has done in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. It's not based on science. It's not based on an understanding of the economic activity and the power of irrigated agriculture in the Murray-Darling Basin. It's based on an ideology. When you get the people who use the environmental water saying that they can't use what they've got and asking why you are buying more—and this is the catchment management authorities; people who know what they're doing—why would the government go and buy more? That's having a real effect on confidence and investment in my electorate. I gave that speech on 1 August 2022.”
“So regional education is important. Are we better off in terms of regional education than we were? I think we are, but I think it's because of those initiatives that I advocated for and that came together in that previous coalition government. I also said in my maiden speech that I love agriculture, because I studied agricultural science at the Dookie Campus of University of Melbourne. I worked as an agronomist. I worked with people in agriculture. I worked for an Israeli firm that had great water-saving technology. I've worked in horticulture, and I've always been very interested and concerned about whether we make enough irrigation water available to grow the great horticultural crops that we have in this region.”
“I was a proud MBA student who studied at La Trobe University Shepparton. I go to Latrobe University Shepparton and I see so many people who, if they'd had to go to the big cities for university, just wouldn't do university. I'm very proud of what the coalition government was able to do in supporting that upgrade. The other thing that's happened recently is the graduation of a number of regional medical students with medical degrees from a combined degree, a Bachelor of Biomedical Science and a postgraduate Doctor of Medicine at the Shepparton campus of the Department of Rural Health. That was put in place by the previous coalition government in 2018, and now we're starting to see the graduates come through. I think that will do more than almost anything else to improve the doctor shortage that we've had.”
“I talked about my grandparents, who didn't have as much opportunity in regional Australia because of when they were born and the things they went through—the war, the Depression. They worked hard to make sure my parents had the opportunity for tertiary education. My parents had that tertiary education opportunity in the late sixties, which was when there was a coalition government. I talked about what they then did for us. I did talk a lot about regional education, which is something I'm really passionate about; I have the great honour of having the shadow portfolio in regional education. A couple of things have happened very recently which relate to appropriations that were made not in this parliament but quite a few parliaments ago. One of them was the upgrade of the La Trobe University campus in Shepparton.”
“I thought people were doing quite well under that government, which is why I was very proud to run as the National Party candidate for Nicholls, succeeding Damian Drum. On the first day of August in 2022, I had the great honour of giving my first speech, as those opposite have recently given their first speeches. It's a great moment in your career, and it's also an opportunity to set out some parameters of what you believe. So I'm going back to my maiden speech a little bit, in the context of appropriations, to see how we're doing now, how we were doing then and how we could have done. One word I used all through my maiden speech, my first speech, was 'opportunity'. I wanted to see opportunity for regional people.”
“We can't make the laws and the regulations we make without the ability to put the resources behind them to enact them, whether it's building things or paying people or paying for defence or whatever it is. The appropriation bill gives us an opportunity. It gives me an opportunity, and what I'd like to do is reflect on the time that I've been here. I had the great honour of being elected to this place in the 2022 election. Before, as a representative in agricultural science, and then serving as the CEO of the Committee for Greater Shepparton, I was advocating to the then coalition government for support for our regional community in Nicholls. I found that support to be very forthcoming and very constructive.”
“These are appropriation bills, and I think it's interesting to think about one of the things I think we all enjoy in parliament, and that's when the grade 6s come from our electorates. They come here to the home of democracy in Australia and they ask us what we do, and we talk about what we do. It's good to talk to the grade 6s because you can distil what we're here for. Essentially, we're here to represent our areas, and we're here to make rules, pass laws. Probably the most important law that we make is the appropriation of money. Fifty years ago, when I was born, a government tried to govern without the ability to appropriate money, but that's a historical debate that we can have. The appropriation of money is a very important role of this parliament because it leads on to everything else that we do.”
“We need to continue it, and we need to expand it across regional Australia, not just in the Murray-Darling region but across regional Australia, because these kids are going to make incredible, compassionate, kind and caring doctors in the communities that they grew up in, and we've got to support more of that to happen.”
“This is what Abigail had to say: Returning to Mildura as a doctor is the culmination of everything I've worked towards over the past seven-plus years. Every tough exam, clinical placement and moment of homesickness were made easier by reminding myself of this goal. She will make a great regional doctor. We need more young people, more young doctors, studying and training and then working in regional health. We know that when they study regionally they work regionally. We need more nurses, midwives and allied health professionals in regional Australia. It gives these regional kids opportunity. It allows them to study closer to home. Keeping them living and working regionally when they graduate is an incredibly successful model.”
“They began their Bachelor of Biomedical Science degrees at La Trobe's Albury-Wodonga and Bendigo campuses in 2019. What happens then is that they progress to the University of Melbourne's Doctor of Medicine rural pathway postgraduate degree in my home town of Shepparton, and students are further embedded in regional settings for all their clinical training, with rotations throughout north, central and north-east Victoria. Does it work well? It's been an incredible success. Abigail Rowe, who's the 2025 valedictorian and graduate of the Doctor of Medicine rural pathway program, was born and raised in Mildura. She's finished her degree, and she's returning home to begin her internship as a doctor at the Mildura Base Public Hospital.”
“Last year, 18 November was a real milestone for the Murray-Darling medical school. The Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network was established by the coalition government and consists of five rurally based university medical school programs in the Murray-Darling region of New South Wales and Victoria. The goals of the Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network over the short to long term are to increase the number of medical students studying in rural areas, increase the number of medical graduates working in rural areas, build new or expanded teaching facilities with extra student accommodation across several sites in the Murray-Darling region and benefit rural hospitals through the increased staffing and workforce availability. The first cohort came from across regional Victoria and New South Wales.”
“Often the best way that government can help private enterprise is to get out of the way. They certainly shouldn't be increasing the costs of inputs that are critical to run those businesses. We need to fix the energy market with a technology-agnostic and sensible transition that reduces emissions in a way that doesn't force economic activity offshore. We need to approach migration policy as a lever to get the skills we need but make the numbers sustainable and in line with infrastructure and housing. I came into this place and held up an apple to illustrate how difficult it is to run businesses, including orchards, and things have not got better. They've got worse. Anyone who thinks that the economy is in better nick is delusional and should probably nick off.”
“The Treasurer is fond of saying that the economy is 'in better nick'. Really? Real wages are down, energy costs are up and inflationary pressure is driving interest rate increases. The size of government and government spending is expanding significantly, but are people's lives getting better? The standard of living is going backwards. We can arrest Australia's decline—and it is a decline, I'm very sad to say. But we can arrest it. We need to do a few things and understand a few principles. We need to back private enterprise. Get out of the way of people who want to start business, grow business, invest and employ people. Make this the central pillar of economic management. The people out there who want to do this are saying to me, 'The government should be there to help,' but, under Labor, the government hinders.”
“Thanks to the sustained scrutiny from the coalition, the superannuation sector, small-business owners and just everyday Australians who could see what a mess this was, we forced Labor to step back from the most outrageous elements of this proposal. The government backdown tells us that this was never a principled policy decision. It was a blatant grab for revenue to prop up their budget. There's a question of trust here too. At the last election, Australians were not presented with a policy to tax unrealised capital gains in superannuation and here were Labor trying to legislate it. They were not told that longstanding superannuation settings would be fundamentally altered, but it was there in black and white in legislation before the parliament. They were not warned that indexation would be stripped away, but Labor tried to do it anyway.”
“There will be some years that they make a profit, and there'll be some years that they make a loss. If they make a loss but the farm value has gone up, how are they supposed to pay the tax that would be created for them because, on paper, their asset base has gone up? The agriculture sector has one of the highest retirement ages in Australia, at around 68 years of age. This flawed policy was just a sneaky trick to take their money, to take their hard-earned savings. We on this side often say, 'When Labor run out of money, they come after more of yours.' On this side we fought hard and, with the help of community pressure, we forced Labor to abandon the taxation of unrealised gains and an indexation freeze.”
“To propose taxing paper gains isn't a minor tweak; it is a structural shift that would have set a dangerous precedent across the entire tax base. Equally concerning was the government's refusal to index the $3 million threshold. Over time, more and more people would have been caught up, because bracket creep, something that the current government has refused to address, was part of the design. People were going to find themselves in a situation of having $3 million of unrealised capital gains. Labor failed to understand that, for many farming businesses across Australia and in my electorate of Nicholls, the main asset in their superannuation is the farm. The farm might go up in value, but it won't be realised. The farmers want to keep farming.”
“I too rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the related bill. I think the best thing we could say is that Labor's super mess is back, but this time it's not the original; it's a sequel. I'm trying to forget the original because that was a horror movie. But the sequel's worse. When the original came out, audiences recoiled in fear, not just at the fact that it was an unfair tax grab but at the sheer unworkability of the legislation. People in my electorate, who work hard and smart to get ahead financially—and a lot of those are farming businesses and family businesses—faced a tax on unrealised capital gains in their superannuation.”
“The curriculum that was in TAFE was designed by the chamber of commerce, not by the government. So we have a very coordinated effort between these two sectors—the vocational education training sector and industry coming together to say, 'What do we need, and what does that look like?' I don't see that in Australia, and I see that trend getting a bit worse. So I think that there's a lot of work to do on apprenticeships. I will refrain from commending the government on what has happened so far. I think we are going backwards, and we need to look at ways that we can not only increase the number of apprentices but improve the overall education that apprentices get and make sure that they're ready to drive Australian industry into the future.”
“It's an experience that I had when I travelled through Europe on a Churchill Fellowship, which I was very grateful to receive, to look at the integration of industry and education in comparable economies. I saw the German system of vocational education and just what a high quality of apprentice and worker that that delivers. What I found was that their vocational education and training schools were superior to our TAFEs, both in terms of the teachers and in terms of the facilities. The apprenticeship system and how coordinated it is with industry was very eye-opening. A typical apprentice in Germany will do three days of an apprenticeship with a company—for example, Mercedes-Benz, which I visited in Stuttgart—and then they'll do another two days of that week at a vocational education training school, which is their version of TAFE.”
“But I think acknowledging that there's a problem and it's multifactorial is the first thing, so we need to accept that, and then we need to work out what to do about it. My experience from my electorate is that employers are finding it more difficult to take on apprentices, and they're finding that they're not incentivised enough to take on apprentices. They're also finding—and I'm hearing this a lot—that the TAFE system is failing industry. It's not working as well as it should. I think our approach to TAFE on our side of politics is to have better TAFE. The approach on the government's side is to have free TAFE. Free TAFE sounds good, but I think that better TAFE is what the industry is asking us for.”
“The National Centre for Vocational Education Research statistics for apprentices and trainees in the 2025 June quarter state that, compared with the 2024 June quarter, commencements declined by 29.2 per cent. The largest decreases were among the food trades workers, down by 58 per cent, and construction trade workers, down by 27.1 per cent. Completions increased by 26.9 per cent overall, which is pleasing, including construction workers, predominantly plumbers. Another number that I think is important for this debate is that, as at 30 June 2025, there were 307,080 active in-training apprentice and trainee contracts nationally. When the coalition government left office, there were 428,150 apprentices and trainees in training across the country. So, on that measure, we appear to be going backwards.”
“Thank you, Deputy Speaker Wilkie, for the opportunity to discuss what is indeed a very important issue—apprenticeships in Australia. The member for Bennelong asked us to commend the government in relation to a number of things. I think the Albanese government wants to be commended on a number of things, including the state of the economy, but that's pretty hard to do at the moment. A cursory look at the numbers for which they are being asked to be commended compares the June 2025 data of apprenticeships with June 2019 data, and they say we've got a favourable outcome in those six years. Why would the Albanese government want to do that? It's quite simple, really. It's because, if you compare the building apprenticeship numbers for June 2025 with those of June 2024, you get a different trend. The numbers are going backwards.”
“Now, fulfilling election commitments is all very well, but making sure that the electorates most in need get the towers and get the coverage is more important. I'd be amazed if Labor electorates are more in need of those electorates. If you had have looked at it in terms of need, you would have seen a pretty broad spread but possibly more to the more remote electorates that are traditionally held by people from the coalition side of politics. So the rollout of telecommunications has got to be based on need and not on trying to make election promises to seats that you might hold or want to win. We also believe that reform must be grounded in technical realism, economic responsibility and rigorous oversight. I note that, in this policy, we're looking at—I'll use this phrase—technology agnosticism.”
“But the Independents wanted to make a big deal of this, saying, 'The Independents shout louder and get more done.' What that shows you is that the Mobile Black Spot Program was put out on need, not for who represents the particular electorate. That's a bit different from what we saw recently. An investigation was launched in August 2023 by the Australian National Audit Office into the federal Labor government's mobile black spot funding program following allegations that funding was disproportionately allocated to Labor held electorates. Key findings and details regarding the allegations included a funding disparity, with reports indicating that 74 per cent of the 54 locations selected for funding in round 6 of the programs were in Labor held seats. The government's defence was that it was fulfilling election commitments.”
“I saw significant improvements in regional mobile phone accessibility during the years of the coalition government before I came into parliament. When I was running for parliament in 2022, I faced some pretty stiff competition from an Independent candidate—and that's fair enough. All's fair in love and war. Some of the Independent candidate's supporters kept pointing to me and saying, 'We've got more mobile phone towers in Indi than Nicholls,' and they were referring to the coalition government who had been in power for nine years. And I said, 'Well, the reason Indi has got more mobile phone towers is not because they've got an Independent representative; it's because they've got more hills.' The undulating geography of Indi meant that it had requirements for more mobile phone towers than Nicholls did.”
“There is no tolerance for error when it comes to emergency services and connectivity. Structural reform of this scale warrants comprehensive parliamentary examination. Given the government's record on 3G and triple zero, due diligence is not optional; it is absolutely essential. There is a practical and a competent path forward. The coalition believes in expanding connectivity and embracing new technologies that can close longstanding coverage gaps. We have a record of investing in regional connectivity and in backing programs that deliver practical improvements on the ground. The coalition spearheaded the Mobile Black Spot Program after Labor declined to invest in improved connectivity in the regions.”
“The 3G shutdown was a foreseeable and planned change, but implementation led to confusion, late identification of incompatible devices and, too often, inadequate communication to consumers. Some of those consumers were forced into unplanned handset upgrades, and small businesses faced disruption to their operations. That was not an unforeseeable event; it was a transition that required rigorous oversight and proactive management by the government, and that oversight fell short. In relation to triple zero and the consequences of failure, communication policy has real world consequences, as we all know. Australians cannot afford another botched rollout. We need assurance that the systems we put in place will not leave Australians with older handsets behind and vulnerable.”
“It is essential that any new obligation strengthen market competition, rather than inadvertently consolidate it in the hands of a few. Regional Australians, older Australians and small businesses often retain devices for longer periods, either out of financial necessity or practical preference. A reform that functions only for the latest high-end smartphones would undermine the very principle of equitable access it claims to advance. Emergency triple zero access, in particular, must not be contingent on owning a recently released premium handset. The hard lessons of the government's failed rollback of the 3G network show that device compatibility cannot be treated as a secondary issue or left to chance. The government has a mixed track record on communications.”
“Emerging technology is critically important as we continue on with legislation and the offering of services in relation to telecommunications. Direct-to-device satellite technology represents an exciting development in telecommunications, with the potential to reduce longstanding coverage gaps across vast regions of Australia. Yet it remains a developing technology. Accelerating the rollout is essential, but legislating an outcome does not magically deliver it. The legislation in this case does leave some questions unanswered. Domestic carriers may bear the primary regulatory burden, but they will depend heavily on international satellite providers whose pricing models and deployment schedules are out of Australia's direct control.”
“This objective is sensible, but it must deliver. The coalition supports the goal of extending voice and text coverage outdoors across more of the country because improved connectivity for regional Australians is simply the right thing to do, and it's absolutely necessary for those people living out there. The legislative framework must genuinely expand coverage, and it must do this in a practical, reliable and affordable way. An obligation must be clearly defined so that carriers understand precisely what is required of them and consumers understand what they are entitled to expect. Terms such as 'reasonably available' and 'equitable access' must be translated into measurable, enforceable standards, rather than left as broad concepts, open to interpretation.”
“If compliance with a new obligation significantly increases infrastructure costs, then those costs are likely to be reflected in retail pricing. Telecommunications policy must anticipate these structural impacts rather than respond to them after the fact. I note that, in this bill, there's the opportunity for the government to use funds in the Public Interest Telecommunications Services Special Account to support contracts or grants for the UOMO that maximise public interest outcomes, and the public interest in remote Australia is that services are delivered at a cost people living there can afford. Regional consumers already face higher service costs and fewer competitive options than their metropolitan counterparts. A universal obligation must not translate to higher bills for those it is intended to support.”
“For families separated by distance, especially across regional and remote Australia, it is fundamental to ensuring they remain connected. For anyone travelling beyond metropolitan areas, mobile coverage is first and foremost a safety mechanism. It provides reassurance that help can be summoned if something goes wrong. Australia's geography is challenging, but new technologies, such as direct-to-device services, show promise in delivering vital telecommunications services. That must be matched by a framework that delivers genuine reliability, not just promises. The last mile is usually the most difficult and the most expensive. Telecommunications affordability remains a critical issue, in particular, for households and businesses in regional and remote areas.”
“Fires devastated parts of my electorate, including parts of the member for Indi's electorate, around the Longwood region, and people's reliance on their mobile phone connectivity was essential. I do recall and reflect on the Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters program, which was a feature of the previous coalition government. It strengthened a lot of the telecommunications infrastructure. It has been noted that that has been a benefit when experiencing natural disasters, such as fire and flood. For small businesses, farmers and freight operators, reliable mobile coverage is essential to running day-to-day operations, coordinating logistics and responding quickly to changing conditions on the ground.”
“I rise to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. As the member for Riverina pointed out, it is 2026, and this was supposed to be delivered over 12 months ago. But here we are. Communications is foundational infrastructure. My electorate of Nicholls is regional and it is rural, but it is far from remote. It is also relatively flat, but you don't have to drive far out of the major cities and towns to find mobile connectivity issues. In the Waaia area, a constituent was unable to make a triple zero call when her child had an epileptic seizure. In another small community called Bearii, locals struggle with poor and intermittent mobile reception. Reliable phone coverage is not a lifestyle extra or a consumer perk; it is essential. We found that out very recently.”
“She grew up in Tatura and took up basketball in 1971 at high school. She played at the Army Drill Hall, before a basketball stadium was built later that year. She went on to represent Australia at the world championships in Colombia and was offered a scholarship with Louisiana State University, where she is now a hall-of-famer. The then new stadium that Julie played in is now more than 50 years old, and it desperately needs an upgrade and expansion to cater for growth in basketball and other sports. The coalition committed $20 million to that before the last election. The government must support our future champions by funding the facilities they need to participate into the future.”
“Adem played at Shepparton United before being drafted to Melbourne, and he played 271 senior games for the Demons, including a run of 226 consecutive games. A BMX track was built in Shepparton in 1980, as that sport took off. Leigh Egan was just a kid, but he was a strong and fearless racer. He was soon dominating and winning Victorian and Australian titles. He went to the world champs in Japan in 1984 and not only won world 17 class, but he beat the open class field to become Australia's first elite men's BMX world champion. There are dozens of elite athletes from a broad range of sports in the Greater Shepparton Sports Hall of Fame. They all grew up in an active community that supported their dreams, and they had good facilities to train on and to be coached on. Julie Gross is an example.”
“Louise and I will be hosting an Aussie athletes fundraising barbecue in Shepparton later this year. Like so many great athletes to emerge from the Goulburn-Murray region, Louise started her career at a local club, the Windangs Hockey Club in the Shepparton Hockey Association, and she honed her skills by training and playing on community facilities. So did Adem Yze, the current coach of the Richmond Football Club and former Melbourne champ, who was in Parliament House last night. He's a product of Shepparton's proud Albanian community. Adem's footy career didn't get off to a great start, because he turned up to play in baggy boardshorts and he copped a bit of cheek from the spectators. But then he kicked 20 goals, which is why people now remember the shorts.”
“In parliament this week, I went to an event hosted by the Speaker to launch the Great Aussie Athlete BBQ. It was a celebration of sport, summer and mateship, all while raising vital funds for the Aussie Athlete Fund. Funds raised help cover training, travel, coaching, wellbeing and access to sport for young athletes across the country. We are in the middle of the Winter Olympics and building towards the summer games in Brisbane in 2032, and it has never been more important not just to watch with pride and cheer from the sidelines but to get involved. I shouldn't have been surprised that the first great athlete I spotted at the event was from Shepparton, in my own electorate of Nicholls. Louise Dobson played 230 international hockey games for Australia, including as part of the gold-medal-winning team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.”
“Someone came up and said, 'Look, if this happens, this happens, this happens and that happens, people's energy bills could fall by $275.' So the Prime Minister went out before that election campaign and said, 'Australians' energy bills will fall by $275.' I'm going to quote him.”
“This topic is about the government's betrayal of Australians due to higher energy costs and other cost-of-living pressures. You will have noticed that we've been asking a lot of questions of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. What I want to talk about, to begin, is the subject of integrity in campaigning, because I think that's really important. It's one thing to be on the treasury bench, but how you get there, and what you say to get there, matters in a democracy such as ours. Before the 2022 election, the Labor Party—who spend 80 per cent of their energy on the messaging and 20 per cent of their energy on the actual policy—got RepuTex to do a bit of work for them.”
“Labor's Growing Regions Program has no money. It's a PINO, a program in name only. Stronger Communities has no money. I have a question for the teacher—I mean minister—who's trying to school me, and I'd appreciate an honest answer: how can regional councils apply for critical infrastructure funding at the moment? One example is Kirwans Bridge near Nagambie, which has been knocked back several times by the Albanese government. The fact is the cupboard is bare and it's just not fair.”
“Yesterday, the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories tried to school us in question time, but maybe it's the minister who needs to go back to school. The fact is that Labor is completely neglecting regional communities, and no amount of trickery and slight increases in one program while scrapping a swathe of others can pull the wool over the eyes of country people. She talked about Roads to Recovery. Well, Roads to Recovery was a program put in place by the coalition in 2000, and, over its time in government, the coalition increased the funding by 43 per cent, to $500 million. Most significantly, the coalition provided $3 billion in new funding for councils via the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. And listen up, everyone: in 2023, Labor scrapped that program and the $3 billion.”
“At the moment, we have a reduced allocation and that means, because there's a bit less water in the catchments, Hume and Eildon, the farmers don't have access to 100 per cent of their water right. Therefore, what they need to do, is go and buy temporary water from other farmers who might sell it to them. It's a good system. The problem is when that pool of water—what we call the consumptive pool—gets reduced because irresponsible governments come in and buy it and put it in environmental accounts that don't get used, there is less water in the pool and the price goes up. Now, right now, in the middle of a heatwave, those orchardists are paying over $450 a megalitre per year for that water. That input cost has gone up, which is making it very difficult to run those businesses.”
“Some of it still goes to that iconic company called SPC, which has been processing fruit for over 100 years and sending it all around the world so that people can experience the delights of sun-kissed Australian fruit in cans, in snack packs right around the world. There two main things that the fruit of the Goulburn Valley needs to grow. One is the climate, the beautiful sunlight that we get. But the other thing is water. We don't get the rainfall to be able to grow that fruit where it is. The ingenious pioneers of the Goulburn-Murray irrigation system put together a scheme whereby we can put water all around the fertile plains of the Goulburn Valley to provide water for the fruit farms and the dairy farms.”
“It's a very exciting and rewarding time in my electorate of Nicholls in the Goulburn Valley, in the food bowl of Australia, the food bowl of South East Asia, because it's harvest time. Now, the harvest sort of kicks off in December period with the cherries and then the apricots. As we get into January, we move into the peaches, both the canning varieties and the fresh varieties. At the moment we're right in the middle of the pear harvest, and I would like to just put on the record for those who don't know that the Goulburn Valley grows over 90 per cent of Australia's pears. Soon in March we'll move into the apples—the Fujis, the Pink Ladies, the Royal Galas. People from the Goulburn Valley are very, very proud of the fruit that they grow. A lot of it goes to the fresh market.”
“I also want to give a shout-out to the professionalism of Kestrel Aviation, which is located in Mangalore, in my electorate. Their work with their helicopters put out many fires. I encourage the government to continue to fund those sorts of fire emergency services.”
“So they're looking at a backlog of infrastructure funding from the previous disaster, and now they've had another disaster—the fires—and they're worried that the federal government is not interested. On a more positive note, I do want to commend the CFA volunteers, who, with their bravery, courage and professionalism, went out and fought these fires and saved a great number of dwellings and a great amount of farmland from being destroyed. I also want to pay tribute to the member for Gippsland and my National Party state colleague Annabelle Cleeland, who is the member for Euroa. What she has done for her community in the aftermath of this fire, despite being personally affected herself, has been amazing and shows the community spirit and what a great local member could do.”
“It's critically important that the federal government come to the party and help this community and this shire, which has a very low rate base, rebuild its roads, bridges, culverts and community infrastructure, such as town halls and playgrounds, to give just some examples. The reason that this community is a bit desperate to try and get the Albanese government's attention on this is that it had a bridge that was damaged in the 2022 floods, called Kirwans Bridge. They have applied to every program they can think of to try and get that bridge funded. It'll take $7 million to get that bridge, which connects two communities, funded for the repair after the 2022 floods. At every point, the Albanese government has refused to fund it.”
“The CFA volunteers have observed that it was higher than 10 centimetres. It's very important that we learn from this and that the Victorian government in particular understands it has a responsibility to manage that roadside fuel load. Now, we don't know whether it would have stopped this fire completely, but, among those in the know, the CFA volunteer group's Brad Marson has said that this makes the situation hazardous and fires a lot harder to suppress. A lot of damage has been done, particularly in the shire of Strathbogie, which is where Longwood and the towns of Euroa and Ruffy and a number of other places are.”
“When you go out and have a look at the situation after the fire has gone through, you can notice one thing very clearly, and that is that, however the fire started—and there's a lot of speculation that it was sparks coming from vehicles on the road—it followed the path of the fuel load on the side of the road. This fuel load appears to locals not to have been managed in the way it should have been. You can see, particularly on the Benalla-Tocumwal Road, that as that wind from the north pushed it to the south the roadside fuel load and vegetation was the conduit for the fire and pushed it. It would go towards any dry paddock and, tragically, destroyed 10 to 12 houses. The CFA recommend that, for catastrophic fire events, the roadside vegetation, dry grass, should not be higher than 10 centimetres.”