FROM south-west Victoria’s perspective there is a worrying, but perhaps not unexpected, lack of action from Spring Street as the nation focuses on the trials of the Abbott government.
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The Labor government led by Daniel Andrews deserves scrutiny for its inertia when it comes to regional affairs given it passed an important milestone last week.
It has been more than 100 days since Premier Andrews defeated predecessor Denis Napthine at the November state election.
Apart from cosmetic changes and department reshuffling, the Andrews government has largely ignored regional Victoria outside of Ballarat and Geelong during its first few months.
Lobby groups representing regional interests have called for more action from Mr Andrews and his ministers.
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has made a request to new Roads Minister Luke Donnellan to outline the future of the country roads and bridges program.
One such project in line for funding — the dangerous Castle Carey Road bridge at Glenormiston — would benefit from state funds and has already received federal assistance.
The MAV has also claimed the state government’s rate rise cap will hit the financial bottom line for regional councils. However, this measure does have broad support among south-west ratepayers who feel their councils have taken a spendthrift approach to their operations.
Meanwhile, a department reshuffle has unnerved the Victorian Farmers Federation. Mr Andrews moved to dissolve the Department of Environment and Primary Industries and merge it with other portfolios to create the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.
We need to ensure south-west Victoria is not ignored by Spring Street over the next four years.
The Standard encourages Premier Daniel Andrews and Opposition Leader Matthew Guy to visit the region within the next 12 months to meet local leaders.
A shopping list of community-building projects awaits them.