Political leaders and industry figures tackle big issues at 2024 Bush Summit in Bendigo
Investing in roads to make them durable and protecting prime agricultural land from transmission lines were key issues discussed at the Herald Sun’s Bush Summit, headlined by Jacinta Allan.
Investing in roads to make them durable and protecting prime agricultural land from transmission lines are among the issues that must be addressed to give regional Victorians hope, the Herald Sun’s annual Bush Summit heard on Monday.
Victoria’s energy transition, pothole ridden road system and soaring population growth in towns were top of the agenda when political leaders, industry groups and farmers gathered in Bendigo on Monday to shine a spotlight on the issues of regional and rural Victorians, and to outline a plan to fix them.
Headlining the event, Premier Jacinta Allan, the member for Bendigo East, said she was committed to ensuring regional families and communities “flourish”.
“I want our regional economies to be strong, and I want us to confront the challenges, but also to grab those opportunities and to do so together, because I know the future of rural and regional Victoria is so bright, and I’m so proud to be part of this wonderful community,” she said.
With roads a hot topic, Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Jonathan Spear said the key to fixing Victoria’s broken network was upgrading how they were built to make them more resilient, such as through foam bitumen stabilisation.
“Which is a way of building a road that means it will get flooded but it won’t get washed away afterwards,” he said. “You spend a little bit more upfront but you get the benefit back.
“And there’s things like more frequent cleaning out of our drains … so if we’re spending the money to make sure that when the rain comes the water actually goes away rather than pooling up and destroying our roads, that’s a real opportunity.
“We’ve got to start to have more of our effort spent on getting ahead of effects of flooding rather than cleaning up afterwards.”
During the summit’s energy panel, Ben Duxson, owner and manager of Glendemar MPM merino stud, said there should be a moratorium on the rollout of renewables on farm lands.
“This reckless race to try and get this amount of renewables is destroying communities out there, and agriculture hasn’t even been brought into this, they don’t even factor in agriculture as being an issue,” he said.
“Where are we going to get our food from?”
National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke, who has wind turbines on his farm, said it was crucial the community was “brought along on the journey”.
“Food production should be our No. 1 concern in this conversation,” he later added.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said while renewables were a necessary part of the mix, building nuclear energy was key to reaching net zero by 2050 and generating jobs for regional communities.
The Coalition earlier this year announced a plan to build nuclear power plants in the Latrobe Valley to replace coal-fired power stations.
“If you want to be a prosperous, sustainable and sovereign country in 2090 you’re not going to do it with wind and solar,” she said.
Farmers erupt as Premier talks renewable energy at Bush Summit
Premier Jacinta Allan has been heckled while on stage at the Herald Sun’s Bush Summit, with farmers erupting over comments made about the switch to renewable energy.
During her address to the crowd, Ms Allan said she was committed to confronting the challenges facing regional and rural communities, noting the government had capped the cost of V/Line fares and upgraded more 860 regional and rural schools.
“I want families and country Victoria to flourish,” she said.
“I want our regional economies to be strong, and I want us to confront the challenges, but also to grab those opportunities and to do so together, because I know the future of rural and regional Victoria is so bright, and I’m so proud to be part of this wonderful community.”
But there was anger among attendees during a Q&A with Ms Allan, when the focus switched to renewable energy projects and transmission lines being rolled out across farmland.
The Premier said the transition would bring prices down.
“No one is more exposed than regional communities to more severe storms, fires, floods and drought, for what comes with the changing climate,” she said.
“That is why we need to make this renewable energy transition.
“It’s a cheaper form of energy.”
The Premier was then interrupted by a series of outbursts from the crowd.
“Bulls – t,” one farmer said before others joined in.
It comes just three days after Ms Allan was heckled and booed by angry farmers and residents of Victoria’s rural and regional west as she left a Rural Press Club lunch, with protesters swarming her as she left out of the back door.
Once the crowd quietened down, Ms Allan doubled down, saying Victoria has “among the lowest wholesale energy prices in the national energy market”.
Ms Allan said there were long-term jobs in renewable energy and most would be found in the regions.
“They’re not rainfall dependent jobs,” she said.
The Premier acknowledged there are different opinions among regional and rural Victorians but said the state had no choice.
“I absolutely respect and understand that there’s a difference of opinion, but we have to go on this journey,” she said.
“We have to make this transition.”
Federal Bendigo MP Lisa Chesters also copped some heat from the crowd during her address as she claimed she had only heard positivity about the transition to renewables from farmers.
“So far the farmers who have raised this issue with me are all pro-solar and renewable energy,” she said.
Several attendees, including farmers, could be heard murmuring and groaning at the comments.
During the Premier’s Q&A, Ms Allan also claimed that the Suburban Rail Loop provides “better connectivity” for regional communities by linking university students to their institutions, including Monash University and Box Hill TAFE.
“The Suburban Rail Loop will mean you can get on a train and you can be delivered by training to those institutions, which in turn opens up your horizons and opens up your opportunities,” she said.
Ms Allan pointed to the City Loop, saying the key project supports the movement of “thousands of people from regional Victoria in and out of the city”.
Her comments were quickly slammed by the Nationals, with Victorian party leader Peter Walsh saying he had been left “horrified” by Ms Allan’s address.
“Somehow the Premier believes that the Suburban Rail Loop provides better connectivity to regional Victoria,” he said during the break.
“That’s absolutely false.”
Mr Walsh said all the mega project would do is “suck money” out of the regions.
“I actually can’t think of anything else to say without swearing,” he said.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, who conceded that she had been among those who heckled the Premier, said Ms Allan’s mammoth spend on the SRL was “unconscionable”.
“Look, I find it hard to keep silent in the face of blatant lies and the misleading of regional Victorians,” she said.
Ms McKenzie said the money for the SRL should be spent on roads, schools and hospitals.
Early on in her address, Ms Allan paid tribute to Herald Sun sports reporter Sam Landsberger during her address at the Bush Summit, sending her thoughts to his colleagues and loved ones ahead of the 35-year-old’s funeral in Melbourne on Monday.
“I’d also like to acknowledge today a number of people who cannot be with us here because they’re saying goodbye to a loved colleague and friend in Sam Landsberger,” she said.
“Now, I never met Sam, but I have been deeply moved by the many tributes that have been penned in his honour.
“Today, I’m thinking of everyone who loved him. Everyone who worked with him, and everyone who he loved.”
During her speech, she pledged not to “padlock” the state’s public forests and keep access open to state parks.
“My brother and I grew up in and around the bush – and (my partner) Yorick and I, we’re raising our kids the same way,” she told the crowd.
“At the end of a long week, particularly a parliamentary sitting week, a walk in the bush is our balm.
“We take the kids, the dogs, and we enjoy the beautiful bushland that we are so blessed to call our home.
“I know there are some people who are worried about the future of our state’s forests. And I understand there needs to be a balance. There are pockets that we need to protect, areas we must conserve.
“But, to me, the most important thing we can do for our bush is make sure it’s enjoyed.”
Her comments come amid growing concern that Victorians will be locked out of some state forests amid a push for more national parks.
Invest in the regions to grow next generation of Aussie athletes
Olympic gold medallist Scott McGrory has revealed he was “blown away” by the community cycling groups in Country Victoria and says governments need to continue funding infrastructure in rural towns to help grow the next generation of Australian athletes.
Speaking at the Bush Summit 2024, McGrory, who was born on a dairy farm in Walwa in north east Victoria famously won gold for men’s track cycling alongside Brett Aiken at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said he has a new appreciation for community sport after moving back to Bendigo after Olympic glory.
Speaking with managing Director Vic and TAS, News Corp Australia, Agostino Giramondo, McGrory said “we need that local infrastructure” to get kids involved.
“I never really understood the cycling community and how strong it was here (in Bendigo) until I came here, and it blew me away. And that’s why we have so many incredible riders from this part of town.
“You have to have something, a community that’s passionate about whatever the sport is, to capture that young talent and keep them moving forward,” he told the crowd.
After detailing his rise to fame from Victoria to the Gold Coast he told the crowd his impressive story is mimicked by athletes across the country and urged for investment in regional sporting facilities to continue.
“There’s the mental health aspect of it too, sports we know are fantastic for that, and obesity, it’s good for nutrition. There are so many positives.
“So it’s great to see what’s happening in Bendigo. We want to keep that going, of course, but we’d also love to see other parts of regional Victoria benefit and government support is critical for that.”
Gina Rinehart says children being taught ‘propaganda’
Australia’s wealthiest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, has ripped into Australia’s education system at the Herald Sun’s Bush Summit, saying the Victorian children are being taught “propaganda rather than facts” and to “hate” Australia.
Ms Rinehart, who appeared in a video address at the summit on Monday, said Australia’s agricultural and defence sectors were facing huge challenges, noting defence personnel numbers were declining.
She questioned why children would want to defend Australia when they are being taught “not to like even to hate” the country.
“Some years ago, the Victoria government adopted the slogan the “Education State“ on car license plates,” she said.
“So 622km away from Canberra, let’s tackle what I think should be another important priority of our government fixing our national curriculum.”
Ms Rinehart said our children and grandchildren are being “let down in their schools.”
“They are taught that it is wrong to say there are two genders … they are being taught propaganda rather than facts and woke causes instead of understanding rationale and logic,” she said.
“Can we believe that in the entire high school Economics and Business curriculum, mining, coal and iron ore do not receive even a simple mention?”
“Children don’t learn what underpins so much of our economy, so many of our businesses.
“Yet, climate change and renewable energy are mentioned 48 times.
“Schoolchildren are anxious that the world will end and they will die … within five to 10 years.”
Ms Rinehart also took aim at government “red tape” and policies she said were draining the country of investment.
“We want to see policies that don’t frighten away investment, that instead lead to increased investment, increased living standards and more in your pocket,” she said.
“There is less money available for wages and staff benefits, less money available for employing more staff, less for training and reframing, less pertinent to charities or for research, and it worsens if expansions or new projects are delayed or lost, take and slow approvals, as all of the above gets even worse.
“Let’s stop the view that government burdens don’t matter.”
Ms Rinehart said many in agriculture worry if the industry “can even survive” and said Australia was missing out on billions of dollars of investment in our mining sector.
“The Minerals Council of Australia has recently estimated that we are missing out on some $68 billion in investment because our major mining projects are “increasingly put in the two heart basket because of the challenging investment environment in Australia’,” she said.
“This situation will only get worse, and we all know of the rising costs of living.”
“Our politicians should act immediately.”
Health top of agenda at Herald Sun Bush Summit
The Herald Sun’s annual Bush Summit has officially kicked off, with politicians, industry groups and farmers gathering in Bendigo to shine a spotlight on the many challenges facing regional and rural Victorians, and to outline a plan to fix them.
Health was top of the agenda for News Corp Australia Executive Chairman Michael Miller as he opened the summit.
“While there are many challenges in this area, there are also opportunities,” he said.
Mr Miller said the Herald Sun’s Good Friday Appeal, which raised $23m last year, had boosted healthcare in the regions by supporting training scholarships and investing in state-of-the art equipment in country hospitals.
“This important investment will improve the experience and outcomes for children receiving care in regional Victoria,” he said.
The News Corp boss noted a recent story in the Weekly Times reporting that regional Australians are dying more than a decade earlier than their Metropolitan counterparts as they “grapple with accessibility and non-existent healthcare services.
“This widening healthcare gap needs to be addressed through these summits,” he said.
Mr Miller said regional areas like Bendigo which are facing infrastructure, energy, transport, education and healthcare challenges need to “urgently future proof” themselves amid soaring population growth.
He also welcomed Premier Jacinta Allan, federal member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters and Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie, along with other state MPs.
Originally published as Political leaders and industry figures tackle big issues at 2024 Bush Summit in Bendigo
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