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Sheed calls on governments to save Murchison Aged Care Home

October 31, 2019/in Media Releases

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed called on the Andrews Government to help save Murchison’s aged care home.

Speaking on the floor of the Victorian Parliament today, Ms Sheed said the home is well run and central to the well-being of the township.

“It’s a home that’s been sufficiently staffed. It’s a home that provided a standard that won’t be talked about at the Royal Commission into Aged Care because there will be no need to,” Ms Sheed said.

“Now that community is being punished for caring for its elderly at a standard above and beyond. This has led to financial ruin and elderly folk are being transported as we speak to foreign environments away from their own communities, isolated from their families and devastated by the confusion and grief of the closure of their familiar caring nursing home.”

Ms Sheed is calling on both Victorian state government and its federal counterpart to step in and ensure the home remains open.

“The administrators have come in and are winding up the facility. We can’t let this happen,” she said.

“We need a government with a heart and soul to step in to save this small community nursing home and give some hope back to the people of a small country town in northern Victoria currently in despair.”

Later today, Ms Sheed will meet with the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers Luke Donnellan to lobby the Andrews Government directly.

“Minister Donnellan has been a good friend to this region and I hope he can see the value in keeping this vital service open.”

ENDS

Media contact

Myles Peterson 0467 035 840│myles.peterson@suzannasheed.com.au

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-31 23:47:352020-02-07 02:46:10Sheed calls on governments to save Murchison Aged Care Home

Justice Legislation Amendment (Criminal Appeals) Bill 2019

October 31, 2019/in Parliament

I rise to make a contribution on the Justice Legislation Amendment (Criminal Appeals) Bill 2019. This is a fairly significant piece of legislation. I would like to start by talking about the fact that the government is proposing to abolish the right to a de novo hearing on appeal to the County Court. Now, I see that as something very concerning. It reflects to some extent a lack of understanding of the pressures that exist in our Magistrates Court in terms of the hearings that are happening there. The government contends that in most appeal cases there would be a requirement that victims and witnesses not give evidence again. A de novo appeal is where the whole case is heard again, effectively a fresh trial so victims and witnesses do then have to give their evidence again if that is the case. However, it must be remembered that in many cases in the Magistrates Court a plea of guilty may have been entered and it may be just the sentence that the person is appealing against, but once it goes up to the County Court then a full hearing would ensue to ensure that everything is heard and everything is before the court.

There is no doubt that our community wants to see a situation where victims in particular are not burdened with the need to repeat their story over and over. I think all of us understand that, especially in cases of family violence and child sexual abuse—those sorts of cases where there has been so much effort made over the years to deal sensitively with witnesses and victims who have to give evidence in those circumstances—that is truly welcomed. I think generally everyone in the community supports that. I have to say that in Shepparton just recently we had the Attorney-General come and open the first family violence court in Victoria. That has been as a result of many things but also part of the fact that we actually have a new courthouse in Shepparton that has been built in recent years. It left the old—I suppose you would call it 1930s, 1940s—courthouse that had not been used for many years available to be completely refurbished and turned into the family violence centre. Within that there are numerous meeting rooms so that barristers, solicitors, victims—all those involved—have plenty of places to meet. There is a big, large area where people can congregate, but they have to go through security. There is then a special room set aside where a witness or a victim can give their evidence in a separate room, videoed through to the court where the hearing is taking place, and they can have a support person with them. These are just amazing facilities that we now have in Shepparton to deal sensitively with the many sorts of cases where you really are concerned about that overexposure of witnesses. I do go back to the fact that in our Magistrates Court there are very many practical decisions made when the person is before the court, and very often it is the case that a person will choose to plead guilty and take their chances on a sentence.

On the other hand they could elect to go to trial. It might be a more serious matter and they could elect to have their case go straight to the County Court for trial. There are a couple of factors here that concern me. One is that there will be less inclination for people to have cases dealt with summarily if they feel that they are not fully prepared or if they are perhaps unrepresented. Many people before the Magistrates Court are unrepresented. We only know too well how stretched legal aid funding is and how there are many people in our community who face court on their own unrepresented. They might talk briefly to a duty lawyer. I have been in court many times where the queue for the legal aid lawyer sitting in that duty office is very long.

I think another aspect of this will be that many people will seek to have their cases adjourned rather than dealing with them on the day. In some ways the Magistrates Court can be seen as rough justice, but it is a practical and quick solution for many people with more minor charges. When it is more serious, people really need to consider whether they are prepared to take the chance before a magistrate, particularly if they know they are not going to be able to have a further hearing or have their case dealt with at another level later on. That is a situation that really concerns me, and it is a reason why I do not support the removal of de novo hearings on appeal.

The Magistrates Court in our state works at the coalface. They get criticised up and down, up hill and down dale. I have to say that during the last Parliament the campaign run by the Herald Sun in its criticism of the judiciary, in particular magistrates and judges whose sentences were not liked, was really concerning. It prodded the government, I believe, to do some things that were perhaps in retrospect not the best. We know that we now have so many people on remand in our prisons. Our prisons are bursting at the seams. Our magistrates have really been criticised so much when their workloads have increased dramatically over time. They get criticised for soft sentencing. That is a fictitious phenomenon that is not reflected in the statistics. Just recently we had the Sentencing Advisory Council come to Wangaratta to run effectively mock courts where members of the public would come in, sit in the courtroom and hear all the evidence for themselves and then they would decide on what would be an appropriate sentence. The sentencing council have done this in many places, and they have found that members of the public will generally sentence more harshly than a magistrate or judge does. It just reflects that notion that magistrates who actually hear all the evidence, see the witnesses and understand the nuances of every case are making some pretty good decisions a lot of the time, especially when they have got the time to do it. Members of the public who think magistrates are making wrong decisions are often misinformed in that regard and would probably be much harder themselves.

I think it is very important that we support our judicial system at every level because history will tell us that bad and fair outcomes will be caused where judges and magistrates are under pressure, where they do not have the time and where they do not have before them the evidence they require to deal with the issues before them. I spoke against mandatory sentencing in this place two years ago when that issue was before this Parliament. That legislation went through, as we know, but I think there is a real concern around that, because again, it removes from the judiciary the ability to take into account every factor relating to a person, and it is not appropriate that we respond to the media when we are thinking about how our justice system should look. I see that the Minister for Youth Justice is here today. It has been very refreshing to hear in this 59th Parliament a change in the way we are thinking about prisoners, about the prison system and about young people. There is a discussion now about restorative justice, and there is a discussion about intervention in early childhood. The minister at the table is coming to Shepparton in the near future to meet with various groups who are working so hard in that area of early intervention, because we know in our communities who the next young people are who will be going to jail, and if we do not intervene at an early stage for those young people, then that is what will happen—they will just become statistics in the justice system. All the evidence now shows that early intervention can change the trajectory of young people’s lives, young people who have been subject to environmental trauma, to family violence and to all sorts of things and who are often dysfunctional in schools. Programs in schools that provide a therapeutic environment for them to be dealt with are now being shown to have a really significant effect. We have the Lighthouse Project in Shepparton also working towards young people having better outcomes. So while I support the bill generally, I have my concerns.

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/default-post-image.png 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-31 18:50:582019-11-20 18:51:09Justice Legislation Amendment (Criminal Appeals) Bill 2019

Murchison Aged Care Facility

October 31, 2019/in Parliament
Members statement – Let me tell you a story about a little country town that has been outstanding for its community spirit and its dynamism, a town that has looked after its elderly folk. When the bush nursing hospital eventually closed, it became an aged-care facility, which is the hub of this small country town and where its ageing population was welcomed and where they remain closely connected to their community. Family members could easily access the home to visit their ageing loved ones and often at mealtimes went down the street to the home to help feed them and talk to others at the table. It is a home that has been sufficiently staffed. It is a home that has a standard that will not be talked about at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety because there will be no need to. Now that community is being punished for caring for its elderly at a standard above and beyond. This has led to financial ruin, and elderly folk are being transported as we speak to foreign environments away from their own community, isolated from their families and devastated by the confusion and grief of the closure of their local nursing home. The administrators have come in, and they are winding it up now. We cannot let this happen. This is Murchison. We need a government with a heart and soul to step in to save this small community nursing home and give some hope back to the people of a small community in a country town in northern Victoria that is currently in despair.

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/default-post-image.png 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-31 18:49:572019-11-20 18:51:31Murchison Aged Care Facility

Sheed commissions review of homelessness

October 27, 2019/in Media Releases

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has commissioned a review of homelessness in the Electoral District of Shepparton, covering Shepparton, Mooroopna and surrounding townships.

The six-month review will examine a range of aspects of the issue covering statistics, data, suggested causes and will liaise with not-for-profit groups and local, state and federal government agencies.

“According to research conducted by the Council to Homeless Persons – based on ABS census data –  Shepparton has one of the worst homelessness problems in the state of Victoria,” Ms Sheed said.

“To advocate effective policy in this area I am determined to get a much better understanding of the causes and potential solutions to homelessness.”

The review is designed to broaden and underpin Ms Sheed’s advocacy to the Victorian State Government during her second term.

“We’ve had a lot of successes to date – the hospital redevelopment, rail upgrades and education reform to name but a few. Over a half-a-billion dollars is flowing into the Shepparton District from the state government,” Ms Sheed said.

“But we should be judged not only on the big picture, but how we treat our least fortunate. There are few less fortunate than those without a roof over their head or those forced into overcrowded or temporary accommodation.”

The issue of homelessness is a complex one, according to Ms Sheed, but there are many in the Shepparton District working hard on the problem.

“The Hume Region Homelessness Network encompasses some of the critical organisations within our region that are working on this problem and I will be very keen to hear their thoughts. The Mayor of Greater Shepparton, Kim O’Keefe is particularly active in this space drawing on her own experiences to seek solutions”.

Former journalist and now policy advisor, Myles Peterson, will be heading up the review who has also worked in state and federal parliament including as a cabinet officer to the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet.

“Suzanna has demonstrated how effectively she can work with government to achieve effective outcomes for her electorate and I look forward to looking very closely at the issue locally to assist in a policy to take to government,” Mr Peterson said.

“We aim to arm her with informed policy to target that advocacy on the pressing issue of homelessness in the Shepparton District.”

Media contact

Jacqui Hawkins 0403 657 267│jacqui.hawkins@parliament.vic.gov.au

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-27 23:26:222020-02-07 02:46:10Sheed commissions review of homelessness

Children’s Services Amendment Bill 2019

October 25, 2019/in Parliament

I am pleased to make a contribution on the Children’s Services Amendment Bill 2019. The overarching purpose of this bill is to provide for consistency in the operations of early childhood education and care services in Victoria by aligning the Children’s Services Act 1996 with the national quality framework. The bill before the house will establish a new approval scheme for persons who provide children’s services such as occasional care as well as the operation of those services as regulated under the Children’s Services Act. It will provide for the monitoring and enforcement of the scheme and is consistent with the relevant objectives and guiding principles of the Education and Care Services National Law.

When the national quality framework was introduced in 2012, a majority of early childhood services in Victoria were brought within the scope of the national law and the remaining 8 per cent of services—predominantly those of occasional care services—continued to be regulated under the Children’s Services Act regime. The 8 per cent accounts for about 340 services, consisting mainly of occasional care services, limited-hour services, mobile services and activity groups. I can say that a lot of those are in regional areas. I noticed in Tatura recently that there is even a little Save the Children bus that sets up a playground in the park, and mothers, babies and children come just for a short period as it is an opportunity to duck away to a doctor’s appointment or whatever it might be that crops up. This bill will not roll the remaining 8 per cent into the national framework, but it will bring consistency across state and national legislation. The guiding principles of the national law will be aligned, as will approvals processes for premises and services. The bill will provide for perpetual approvals and align operational requirements for services such as notification of incidents and complaints. That consistency is obviously a very strong reason for the legislation. The bill contains one key operational change, which is the provision of early childhood programs to be based on an approved learning framework, and it aligns offence, monitoring and compliance provisions with the more comprehensive framework contained in the national law. Within my electorate of Shepparton the local neighbourhood houses are providing quite a bit of the occasional childcare services that we have in our community.

In the township of Tatura the small community house is running a small childcare service called the Cubby, which is licensed to have up to 15 children in care and provides three lots of 5 hours a week care to local families. They are a growing service. They have recently been able to increase their services from two days to three days of care with additional funding, and they are now open during school holidays as well. Next year they will be looking at licensing options to try and meet the local demands and allow for an increase in the hours of operating their childcare services. Tatura is part of that very significant fruit and vegetable growing community where a lot of people come in on short-term contracts to pick fruit, and having this sort of short-term service for people who are often working full-time but still have the need to put their children somewhere just for a short time and attend to some of their business is so important. I certainly remember when my children were small how important just that 2-hour break could be to go and do something. It makes it a very different service to full-time day care that full-time working parents need.

At Numurkah the Numurkah Community Learning Centre has been running two childcare sessions, one on a Thursday and the other on a Friday. On Thursday they provide 4 hours of care for children aged three years and above, and on Friday they provide 5 hours of occasional care for children aged nought to school age. That centre is trialling an after-kinder care program and is looking to possibly expand more next year, particularly the services they provide on a Thursday. The local coordinator of children’s services at that Numurkah centre, Jayne Kam, detailed that there is still a real need within the community for occasional care. Whether it is to provide some temporary relief, allow a parent to go to a doctor’s appointment or for those who require a flexible model of care, the option of occasional care can be really important. Jayne said last week that a parent recently learned about the occasional care service after she had been struggling for ages trying to get some childcare services together. She has found this service and was so happy to be able to call on it. When you have no family or available friends to drop your children with for that short time, occasional care certainly fits the bill. This is the essence of an occasional care service—life happens, things come up and when you need that extra care and support these occasional care services are there to help you out. 

It is welcome to hear that within the proposed amendments there will be no effect on the provision of long day care for occasional care services that operate less than 15 hours a week. This allows for the occasional care offering to continue and to be recognised. In conversations with our occasional care providers in the electorate of Shepparton we heard a very consistent message that it is important to them that the legislation has not created a greater administrative burden on those smaller regional and rural childcare centres. The Tatura Community House childcare service has only one full-time staffer who does most of the policy, compliance and procedures work required for their occasional care service. Child care forms just part of their business services, just part of many of the administrative tasks they have. The model on which most of these services are being delivered in our region does depend on there not being an administrative burden created and built on all the time.

Alongside occasional care, neighbourhood houses are running a variety of other workshops and training, health and wellbeing sessions that support social groups and many other people in the community. Any increase in administrative requirements for a small team would have a negative consequence for their capacity to deliver what they really deliver on very skinny budgets. Just this year the board of management of Morrell Street Occasional Care, which operated out of the Mooroopna Education & Activities Centre, known as MEAC, had to make the heartbreaking decision to close their occasional care centre, and it was due to the running costs and attendance levels of the service no longer being sustainable. Jan Phillips said that their centre simply did not have the capacity to work or the funds to dedicate towards the significant number of hours required to undertake that transition that was happening last year. The federal government’s national framework required a lot of work to be done to allow those centres to transfer over, and while the state department was providing assistance to a number of those small occasional care organisations to be able to go through the long process of getting that work done, unfortunately Mooroopna really slipped through the system. It is very unfortunate that that is the case, because Mooroopna is a very needy community, a very disadvantaged community, and that local centre does provide a lot of services. It is very disappointing to see that service in Mooroopna not be able to, in a sense, have the resources to be able to go through what it needed to go through. Bringing the Children’s Services Act 1996 in line with the national quality framework will reduce confusion not just for operators of children and care services but around the training being provided to students of children’s care services in the field, as the changes will bring the Children’s Legislation Act into alignment with the national framework to reflect the learning given when you are on placement.

It is vital for the sustainability of our smaller regional childcare centres to ensure that the administrative costs do not outweigh the benefit of providing these services in our community. To lose the flexible and occasional models of childcare services in our regional communities would be a great loss to families who would then not be able to get that short-term support that occasional care gives them. I have got a lot more to say, but time is running out. I think it is important to say that early childhood and access to services in those early childhood years are important everywhere. Often in rural communities we do have people who are not located close to their families and who do not have access to that short-term support. Mooroopna in itself is a community that does suffer a lot of disadvantage, but so does Shepparton and so does Numurkah, and indeed Tatura has its challenges too. It has been able to provide a very successful service, and the increased funding that came through neighbourhood houses last year has helped.

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-25 05:08:142020-02-07 02:48:12Children’s Services Amendment Bill 2019

Shepparton Electorate Shows

October 25, 2019/in Parliament

Members statement – It is show season in the electorate of Shepparton, the time of year when the local community showcases its fine wines, produce, baking, agriculture, talents, arts and crafts and animals. First was the Nathalia Show, which celebrated its 125th year. Well done to the hardworking committee of the Nathalia Agricultural Society on yet another successful event. Last Friday and Saturday the 143rd Shepparton show was on and saw many people coming through the gates. As always the dog trials had a huge following and competition was strong. The animal nursery attracted the little ones, and in the bakery section there were some awesome cakes on display. Next week the Numurkah Show will shine on 23 October. I anticipate a great day to enjoy the bush poetry, needlework, cookery, art displays, showjumping, knitting works and shearing exhibition. The Dookie Agricultural and Pastoral Society will round up the show spectaculars on 2 November. This is one of those shows that is inherently rural in its nature. Of course everybody knows everybody, and the camaraderie is strong. The photography competition can be intense, and the results are always outstanding. The afternoon tea is to-die-for. These shows are a positive part of rural life. They are run by passionate community volunteers who plan, organise, lend a hand in the show office, clean, steward or judge the various competitions to make these shows so valuable.

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-25 05:05:042020-02-07 02:48:38Shepparton Electorate Shows

Youth Justice System

October 25, 2019/in Parliament

Questions without notice – My question is to the Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice and Minister for Victim Support. Minister, there have been further disruptions and violence within our youth justice centres in recent weeks. You, nevertheless, maintain that a change of approach and a reduction in the number of prison beds for youth offenders will promote better outcomes than building more prisons. It is widely acknowledged that intervention in early childhood is the most effective way to change the trajectory of people’s lives. Minister, what investment will you make in early childhood services to ensure that children and young people do not end up in the youth justice system?

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Supplementary Question – Minister, unfortunately we have young people from the Shepparton community who end up in the youth justice system, and as a community we would really like to turn that around. So, Minister, will you visit the Shepparton district to meet with the people who work in this region, the people who are working in the Neighbourhood Schools project, with the Greater Shepparton Lighthouse project and with the Bridge Youth Service—all organisations that are working to try and get that trajectory right and keep our young people in our community out of the youth justice system?

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-25 04:56:572020-02-07 02:48:38Youth Justice System

Police Legislation Amendment (Road Safety Camera Commissioner and Other Matters) Bill 2019

October 25, 2019/in Parliament

I rise today to make a contribution on the Police Legislation Amendment (Road Safety Camera Commissioner and Other Matters) Bill 2019 that is before the house. I note that this bill addresses primarily three matters. Firstly, it seeks to redress the unlawful execution of warrants by protective services officers operating on the rail network. Secondly, the bill responds to the road safety camera commissioner’s recommendations following the 2017 ransomware virus attack on a number of the state’s speed cameras, and lastly, it makes it easier for Victoria Police to dispose of unclaimed lost property.

The first aspect of the bill is perhaps the most delicate, dealing as it does with the granting of retrospective powers to protective services officers to execute warrants. Laws made after the fact should always be dealt with with the utmost caution. It is perhaps one of our most potentially dangerous powers as elected representatives and legislators to create or amend laws that apply to past actions or omissions, and it is a power we should exercise with great care. I agree with the government, however, in this instance and believe that the retrospectivity is appropriate. When protective services officers were granted the powers of arrest in 2012, I accept that it was intended to include the power to arrest people who were the subject of an arrest warrant and I accept that the oversight that led to protective services officers acting unlawfully when executing those warrants was an unintended consequence of that legislation. The oversight was somewhat mitigated by the fact that when protective services officers executed warrants they almost always immediately transferred those arrested and in their custody over to Victoria Police in any event, or as soon as it was possible for them to do so. The officers acted in good faith, believing, as they had been trained to do, that they were acting lawfully. The fault lay in the legislation, not the actions of those charged with maintaining a safe and secure environment for the state’s commuters. So, again, I am comfortable with that amendment despite its retrospectivity.

In 2017 many of us were introduced perhaps for the first time to the notion of ransomware—malicious computer viruses that infect a target computer and lock its data behind a near-impenetrable encryption. The creators of the virus typically then demand payment to decrypt the data, usually in the form of so-called untraceable cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. Just such an attack affected dozens of cameras on Victoria’s fixed digital road safety camera system in 2017. A subsequent investigation by the road safety camera commissioner highlighted inadequacies in the reporting of information by the then Department of Justice and Regulation, now the Department of Justice and Community Safety, and the private sector contractors. As outlined by the Minister for Police, these amendments will authorise the department and private camera operators engaged by the department to disclose information in response to a request by the commissioner; further, it will actually compel them to do so. We are all painfully aware of the dramatic spike in the road toll this year. The number of lives lost in 2019 to date has risen by a third compared to the same period last year—218 people tragically snatched from their family, their friends and their community. In the Greater Shepparton region we have lost seven people this year; for the entirety of 2018 we lost four. Something is terribly amiss on our state’s roads. This highlights the very important role of the road safety camera commissioner, especially when it comes to speed. While reporting requirements and data transparency can be pretty dry topics, we cannot forget the purpose of the commissioner and the road safety camera system. They are there to save lives.

Ultimately the purpose of these amendments is to improve the system and strengthen its ability to make Victoria’s roads safer. In Shepparton we had a visit from Minister Pulford during the course of July on her mission of going around the state to discuss road safety issues and to elicit from the community what they saw as the issues. I must say that at the Shepparton RSL club I was really pleased to see such a large number of people come in to talk about road safety issues. It was about the state of the roads, it was about drug testing, it was about drink-driving; there was a sensitivity about the issue of suicide as it pertains to road deaths. I would say that a lot of very useful information was gathered at the session in Shepparton, as I do not doubt it was throughout the state, as those sessions took place in many other regional and metropolitan areas.

I see little controversy in the amendment that allows Victoria Police to dispose of unclaimed lost property and acknowledge their storage capacity for such items is really being tested at the moment. When I recently visited Shepparton police station I noticed the room that they have off to the side with all the lost property in it. My goodness me, it was so full, and it was so full of such random things—bikes, prams—I cannot think of all the different items that were there. It imposes a burden on the police in terms of cataloguing it and maintaining it, and I imagine that even trying to locate people who may have lost things or matching people up to the items that have been regarded as lost must be a big challenge for them. Where space at the Shepparton police station is at a premium, I am sure police will be glad to be able to turn over that property one way or the other much more quickly. A lot of these amendments are really very practical, commonsense ones. I support the bill before the house.

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-25 04:48:432020-02-07 02:48:37Police Legislation Amendment (Road Safety Camera Commissioner and Other Matters) Bill 2019

Goulburn Murray Irrigation District

October 25, 2019/in Parliament

Adjournment – My adjournment is for the Minister for Water, and the action I seek is that she immediately establishes a formal review of the carryover rules as they relate to irrigators in northern Victoria.

Carryover was introduced into the Murray, Goulburn and Campaspe systems in 2007. It was initially limited to 30 per cent carryover, and indeed there remained a limit on trade out of the Goulburn-Murray irrigation district (GMID) at that time. A great deal has changed since the carryover rules were first introduced. The rollout of the Murray-Darling Basin plan and water trading policies are some of the fundamental changes that have occurred.

Speculators have entered the market and there are many water traders who no longer own land, and the impact of this on the availability and price of water in the Goulburn-Murray irrigation district cannot be overlooked. It should be noted that carryover is a device used by many farmers to assist them in the year-to-year management of their enterprises. There are strong arguments as to why it should be retained. In saying this, however, there are major concerns that exist in the community because of the lack of transparency in relation to water trading. Many believe that carryover is being manipulated by speculators to the detriment of farmers, who use their irrigation water to grow food. There is evidence that speculators carry over water to make water scarce and increase prices to genuine irrigators.

Among the many unforeseen impacts of policy changes since 2007 is the fact that there has been a resultant significant increase in the flows of water to South Australia amounting to approximately 1000 gigalitres per year since that time. The recent report from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority entitled Transition Period Water Take Report 2017–18 identifies that over the last nine years irrigators in the southern connected basin have used on average 1200 gigalitres less than the cap allows. This report also identifies that the flows into South Australia have averaged 1000 gigalitres per annum more than was expected under the basin plan modelling. This is a huge positive for the environment that is not being acknowledged. This report puts numbers to what we in the GMID have been arguing for some time. Deputy Speaker, I seek to make available page 52 of the said report and draw members’ attention to figure 2.9 appearing on that page. Leave granted. Ms SHEED: Governments must recognise the extra flows that are occurring on an annual basis to South Australia and that the basin plan has exceeded its original targets. The monumental fact arising out of this now tested and documented information from the Murray Darling Basin Authority is that there is simply no need now to recover the additional 450 gigalitres of water. Recognition of this water will also mean that any shortfall on sustainable diversion limit projects will be taken care of.

The time has come to review the carryover rules and the impacts they are now having. As part of this, the spill rules need to be reviewed and changes made to ensure that carryover is tied to land.

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-25 02:26:242020-02-07 02:48:07Goulburn Murray Irrigation District

Nationals should work for their constituents, not the Liberal Party says Sheed

October 23, 2019/in Media Releases

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed says the Federal National Party needs to exercise its balance of power in the Coalition to extract more assistance from the Liberal Party and Prime Minister Scott Morrison for rural and regional electorates.

“The Federal Nationals are in a very powerful position should they choose to use it,” Ms Sheed said. “Country people are crying out for help over water and drought policy and they want the National Party to deliver it.”

Ms Sheed said comments made by prominent National Party member Barnaby Joyce this week are a step in the right direction.

“With a majority of one, the Nationals have an incredibly potent position in this government,” Mr Joyce told the ABC. “Without the Nationals, there would be no Coalition government.”

The recent example of Moira Shire – partially located in Ms Sheed’s Electoral District of Shepparton –  missing out on a drought assistance package is one example where the Nationals could exercise their federal power.

“Agriculture workers in Moira Shire have been hollowed out due the massive loss of dairy farms resulting from mismanagement of the Murray Darling Basin Plan,” Ms Sheed said.

“Now the shire is being victimised again because they don’t have enough agriculture workers to qualify for assistance. This is an example of the rules working twice against the very people they are supposed to support.”

The Nationals also need to get tougher on the Murray Darling Basin Plan that rural and regional constituents across the Basin contend has worsened drought conditions, according to Ms Sheed.

“I am spending a great deal of time and effort contending with the issue of water within the parameters of being a state member of Parliament but action is also needed at the federal level,” Ms Sheed said.

“Whether it’s damage being done to the Barmah Choke by environmental flows, the ridiculous price of water that is driving dairy farmers to the wall, the questionable science of the Lower Lakes in South Australia, the death of the Darling River, carryover, transparency in the water market, speculators in the water market, flood plain harvesting in the Northern Basin – there are so many examples of how the Plan is failing both farmers and the environment,” Ms Sheed said.

“If Barnaby Joyce and the Nationals are serious about exercising their power to deliver for their constituents then look no further than their constituents crying out about the Murray Darling Basin Plan. Listen to them and fix it.”

ENDS

Media contact

Myles Peterson 0467 035 840│myles.peterson@parliament.vic.gov.au

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https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2019-10-23 23:05:312020-02-07 02:46:10Nationals should work for their constituents, not the Liberal Party says Sheed
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