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Sheed calls on the state government to save the summer holidays for hundreds of families

December 18, 2020/0 Comments/in Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has called on the state government to ensure that hundreds of families can enjoy their summer holidays.

“A lot of money has been spent recently upgrading facilities at Greens Lake but water levels are becoming too low for many recreational purposes,” Ms Sheed said.

Greens Lake is an off-stream water storage lake about 7.5 kilometres north east of the Corop township.

“The low water level situation, combined with a decision by Goulburn Murray Water to stop pumping water into the lake, has the potential to prevent hundreds of families from enjoying their summer holidays by the lake,” Ms Sheed said.

“The government needs to help ensure that water is delivered into the late for the summer season so families can finally have a break after this very stressful year.”

“The lake has been a popular local attraction where families can enjoy affordable holidays by parking their caravans or camping for free.

“Unfortunately, families are now in danger of losing that destination due to a recent decision by Goulburn Murray Water to decommission pumps that deliver water into the lake from the Waranga Channel.”

“The volume of water in the lake at the moment is becoming unsustainable for most recreational purposes,” Ms Sheed said.

Ms Sheed has written to the Minister for Water, the Hon Lisa Neville MP, calling on the government to take action.

“The lake has a capacity of some 32,500 megalitres and according to Goulburn Murray Water it is only at 29 per cent capacity at the moment.”

“The lake has always been a popular place for free camping and has a picnic area, tables, plenty of shade, rubbish bins, a boat ramp and toilet facilities.”

“The recreation facilities have recently been upgraded by Goulburn Murray Water.”

Ms Sheed said she has been advised that Greens Lake is no longer needed by Goulburn Murray Water for water storage purposes and that the pumps connecting the lake to the Waranga Channel are to be decommissioned.

“The only water that may ultimately be in Greens Lake is what falls into it.”

“With a long hot summer ahead of us, it is imperative for recreation – and possible firefighting purposes – that more water be put into the lake while there is still time to do so.”

“Post-COVID, many families are in dire need of an enjoyable break that is also affordable and Greens Lake provides them with a perfect location that has significant natural beauty.”

“It doesn’t make any sense to build a range of new recreational facilities at Greens Lake and then fail to ensure there is enough water in the lake for holidaymakers to enjoy.”

“The decision to stop keeping the lake at a functional level for recreational and environmental purposes was made without sufficient consultation, with many recreational and other users feeling that their views were not taken into account.”

“I call on Goulburn Murray Water and the Water Minister to reverse this decision so that families can enjoy the summer they deserve.”

ENDS

Media contact

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

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Suzanna-Seated-blue-shirt-main-image.jpg 630 1200 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-12-18 12:30:402020-12-18 12:32:13Sheed calls on the state government to save the summer holidays for hundreds of families

Summer Newsletter 2020/21

December 15, 2020/0 Comments/in Newsletters /by Suzanna Sheed
https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/christmas.png 538 942 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-12-15 14:51:012020-12-18 10:45:52Summer Newsletter 2020/21

Urgent action needed to save Victoria’s fruit and vegetable harvest

December 11, 2020/0 Comments/in Latest News, Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has called on the state and federal governments to act urgently or Victoria’s fruit and vegetable produce will rot on the trees and in the fields.

“With just a matter of weeks to go before fruit and vegetable harvesting is due to start, there are massive problems getting the workers that are needed to pick the crops in the Goulburn Valley as well as other regions across Victoria and the country,” Ms Sheed said.

“The shortage of seasonal workers across Victoria is extremely worrying for growers in my area, many of whom have bumper crops and have been facing years of drought, fluctuating overseas markets and high water prices.

“Much has been said and done to incentivise local workers to become fruit pickers, but as February and March – the peak picking period for pears and apples in my region – nears it is critical that a solution is found.”

“The Pacific Islander seasonal workers program is extremely important, particularly in the absence of our usual backpacker cohort.”

Ms Sheed said the state and federal governments should urgently remedy the situation.

There is a strong economic imperative to bring Pacific Islander workers to assist with the harvest just as there are strong economic reasons for ensuring that overseas tennis players are in Australia for the Australian Open at much the same time.

“The federal government should send the federal Chief Health Officer to the Pacific Island nations that have been declared COVID-free to ascertain their status.”

“If those nations prove their COVID-free status, then include them in an Australia travel bubble so seasonal workers can travel to Victoria without the need to quarantine.”

“Otherwise the federal and state governments need to urgently work on a mass quarantine scheme to ensure that the state’s fruit and vegetables can be harvested in a COVID-safe way.”

“Agriculture Victoria said there are 20,000 short-term jobs paddocks and packing sheds on farms in the Sunraysia, the Goulburn Valley, the Yarra Valley and Gippsland,” Ms Sheed said.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that in order to harvest our fruit and vegetable crops in the Goulburn Valley producers will need access to Pacific Islander workers under the federal government’s Pacific Islander seasonal workers program.”

ENDS

Media contact

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

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/115793909_2685287038413554_5370491172543310476_o.jpg 1080 1080 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-12-11 13:14:582020-12-11 13:14:58Urgent action needed to save Victoria’s fruit and vegetable harvest

Seasonal Workers

December 9, 2020/0 Comments/in Parliament /by Suzanna Sheed

Question without notice – My question is for the Premier. It is becoming clear that in order to harvest our fruit and vegetable crops in the Goulburn Valley producers will need access to Pacific Islander workers under the federal government’s Pacific Islander seasonal workers program.

My question for the Premier is: what is your government doing to facilitate the necessary quarantining for these workers so that they will be able to travel to the Goulburn Valley to pick our fruit?

The shortage of seasonal workers across Victoria is extremely worrying for so many of the growers in my area, many of whom have bumper crops and have been facing years of drought, fluctuating overseas markets and high water prices. Much has been said and done to incentivise local workers to become fruit pickers, but as February and March draw near, the peak picking period for pears and apples in my region is nearing and it is getting critical. To this end, the Pacific Islander seasonal workers program is really extremely important, particularly in the absence of our usual backpacker cohort.

Mr ANDREWS (Premier): I thank the member for Shepparton for her question and for her advocacy on this and all issues that are important to the Goulburn Valley. She is well known and well understood to be a passionate advocate on behalf of her community. The program that the member for Shepparton refers to is of course the federal government granting permission for the entry of certain people from very low or no virus communities in the Pacific. That is largely where the program ends. Being able to provide safe quarantine would fall it would seem to the states, despite the fact that quarantining is in effect a principal responsibility of the federal government. But again, that is not the quarrel that any of us need to be getting into. It is about the practicalities of this. It is about the practicalities of very large numbers of people coming to regional Victoria to complete a very important task, both for the income of growers but also for consumers having an availability of fresh, high-quality produce at an efficient price.

What I can say to the member for Shepparton is that we are working as hard as we possibly can to deal with these issues. They are not simple. They are not easy in any way. Giving effect to the decisions that the commonwealth government in a very broad context has facilitated, if you like, rather than made, is not a simple thing. And yes, there are costs involved if we do not get this right, and one of those costs is potentially many, many coronavirus infections, particularly in communities where there have been, not just for 40 days, no infections, but in some communities months and months without any infections. The balance point is the key point here.

I appreciate the advocacy on behalf of the growers and all of that supply chain that is critically important in the Goulburn Valley. I would say that we, all of us, have got to redouble our efforts to get more and more Victorians to do this work right now and into February, March, April and right out to May. That is our priority at this stage. We will have more to say about quarantining arrangements potentially and some overseas arrivals, but that is incredibly complicated. It is not a matter of expense and it is not a matter of cost; it is a matter of what can be done at scale to the highest standard. As my honourable friend the minister for COVID19 Quarantine Victoria would I am sure have said if she had been asked this question, there are limitations. We do not have an unlimited supply of workers and others, hotels even, to provide that highest standard, best-in-class standard, hotel quarantine. That is what the Victorian community expects.

That is what the government will fundamentally deliver and, despite the laughter of those opposite who could not prove any more clearly their irrelevance to every matter of importance in this state, we will not, unlike them, compromise the safety of this community.

Mr R Smith: On a point of order, Speaker—it seems one of us is missing the other one a little bit too much. But it is okay; I am back. I never really went away.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Andrews interjected.

Mr R Smith: On a point of order, Speaker, under Rulings from The Chair—he is still going. I am actually tired of the bullying that we are getting from the Premier. Under Rulings from the Chair I ask you to—

Ms Neville interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Police and Emergency Services!

Mr R Smith: Sit down, you sook? Is that what you just said? Sit down, you sook? Is that okay? Is that what we have to put up with here in this chamber? Well, you might have a higher office than me, but you have got no more right to be in this place that I have.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr R Smith: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is not permitted during this period of parliamentary procedure to attack the opposition. I ask you to bring him back to answering the question, and he can refrain from the bullying barbs that he likes to throw across the table.

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask members not to interject across the chamber, and I ask the Premier to come back to answering the question.

Mr ANDREWS: As I was saying, these are not simple matters—simple as some may suggest from the opposition—they are complex. We are working through them and will report progress at the appropriate time.

Ms SHEED (Shepparton): Look, I thank you for that response, although time is critical on these, and just this week we had the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Quarantine Fees) Bill 2020 before the house. I think that the issue of quarantining of workers under this scheme is being talked to me about at some length and the cost of what that quarantine might be, so I am just wondering, Premier: what steps and what sort of framework you might anticipate will be in place in relation to the cost of quarantine for workers as opposed to residents currently returning under the current scheme?

Mr ANDREWS (Premier): I thank the member for Shepparton for her supplementary question. I think this is at the heart of the issue. This is an industry where workers are not highly paid. This is an industry where I think it simply cannot be avoided pointing out the fact that we have seen many, many examples of not the highest standards of practice when it comes to health and safety, industrial relations, the protection of workers and the proper pay for a proper day’s work.

That is not necessarily synonymous with some elements of this industry. The notion then that we put a further disincentive—hard work, not well paid often, with not always the highest of standards—does present us with a challenge. If we say to people that they are going to have to pay $3000 to $5000 for the privilege of coming here to work such a job, I fully agree with the member for Shepparton that that will be a real challenge and a real blocker. That is why we have got to work hard, all of us, to get a solution to this. Can I offer to the member for Shepparton: I will facilitate a meeting with the Leader of the Government in the other place, the agriculture minister, to talk through in detail all of our work and what we hope to achieve in partnership with the member for Shepparton

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.png 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-12-09 18:27:012020-12-10 10:40:34Seasonal Workers

Creative Industries Minister invited to open Shepparton Festival

December 9, 2020/0 Comments/in Latest News, Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has invited the Minister for Creative Industries, Mr Danny Pearson, to launch the 25th annual Shepparton Festival.

Ms Sheed said:

“I’ve invited the new Minister for Creative Industries to the Shepparton Festival so that he can see first hand how inventive, creative and innovative arts practitioners outside of Melbourne can be.”

“Melbourne is the acknowledged cultural capital of Australia but the arts practitioners of Shepparton have many delightful surprises for visitors during the festival.”

“There will be plenty to see and do and it would be wonderful if Minister Pearson could not only join us, but launch and open the Shepparton Festival.”

The festival, titled ‘Unify’, will be held across the Goulburn Valley from 11 to 27 June next year and “will take full advantage of the darkness of night,” Ms Sheed said.

With the tagline “Unique events in unusual places” it has already begun to intrigue Shepparton locals.

Shepparton Festival general manager Louise Tremper said the festival committee is looking forward to delivering a safe and exciting festival in 2021.

Ms Tremper said: “The festival aims to reignite the creativity that our region is so well known for and to give a boost to our visitor economy.”

The festival director, Jamie Lea, says the festival will reach new heights and go beyond expectations to deliver an outstanding experience.

Ms Lea said: “Unify is a call to action on so many levels and the perfect theme for a postlockdown festival. We are all hungry for a festival, but before we know it, June will be here.”

Being a winter festival, it will take advantage of the darkness of night and the magic of projection.
The festival will have special input from Bill Kelly, the Buffalo, New York born and Nathalia based world renowned artist, who will bring his creative and artistic skills to bear.

In inviting Mr Pearson to launch the festival, Ms Sheed said:

“Each year we have been delighted by the venues used and the extraordinary performances that have been brought to our city, and next year will be no exception.
“The recent cash injection from the state government of $49,000 will be a great boost to the festival, taking it to the next level of professional development.
“I extend an invitation to our new Minister for Creative Industries to launch the Shepparton Festival and to formally open it.”

ENDS

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

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Shepparton-Festival.-png-rotated.jpg 1080 1920 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-12-09 15:56:592020-12-11 13:17:54Creative Industries Minister invited to open Shepparton Festival

Victorian State Government procurement process – Regional Victorian Businesses

December 8, 2020/0 Comments/in Parliament /by Suzanna Sheed

Constituency Question –  My constituency question is to the Minister for Government Services. Minister, what is the government doing to support regional Victorian businesses to manufacture and grow jobs locally through the government’s procurement system? It is good to see that the government has created this new portfolio. As the independent member for Shepparton, a number of regional businesses have made representations to me about their inability to get government preferred supplier list access. One example is SPC. They supply fruit and vegetables to a number of Victorian public hospitals, and while they have had some success in this, they still have to struggle to get entry in a number of ways. Ensuring regional suppliers and businesses have preferred supplier status for government goods and services is one way to support regional businesses who have been hit hard this year by the coronavirus.

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.png 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-12-08 16:46:362020-12-08 16:47:52Victorian State Government procurement process – Regional Victorian Businesses

Critical action needed on heart health and obesity

December 1, 2020/0 Comments/in Latest News, Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has written to the Minister for Health seeking an urgent briefing following the release of Heart Foundation data that shows that the Shepparton region is Victoria’s worst for heart health and obesity.

Ms Sheed said:

“I have written to the Minister for Health urgently requesting a full briefing. I have also sought a coordinated public health response to this alarming information on the health outcomes in the Shepparton region.”

“The Heart Foundation’s work is just the latest to show the health divide between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, where health is determined by where you live and what services you have access to.”

“It is disgraceful in this day and age that where you live should determine your health outcomes,” Ms Sheed said. “Something needs to be done.”

The Heart Foundation report said the rate of hospitalisations for heart attack (17.4 per 10,000 people) and coronary heart disease (55.9 per 10,000 people) in the Shepparton region is around 70 per cent higher than the state’s lowest region – Melbourne’s inner east.

This puts the region’s figures – which cover Greater Shepparton, Moira and Campaspe shires – close to 30 per cent higher than the state’s average for both hospitalisation rates, the Heart Foundation said.

The Shepparton region also ranks as the state’s top hotspot for obesity rates (39.8 per cent) and high blood pressure (23.7 per cent). These are two leading risk factors for heart disease, which is  Victoria’s single leading cause of death, the Heart Foundation said.

The Heart Foundation findings are similar to those of work conducted previously, such as a longitudinal study of health in the Goulburn Valley conducted by Dr David Simmons and the Department of Rural Health at Melbourne University, Shepparton.

Ms Sheed said:

“The situation is critical. People’s health and lives are at risk and the right action needs to begin happening now.

“The Shepparton community has proved beyond doubt that we can get things done when we have the support that is needed. We need the state government to step up with the resources that Shepparton and all of rural and regional Victoria needs to combat heart disease and obesity.”

ENDS

Media contact

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

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/heart-665186_1280.jpg 768 1280 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-12-01 16:34:072020-12-01 16:34:07Critical action needed on heart health and obesity

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