WELL, here we go again. Cyclone Alfred washed away all thoughts of an early April election but it’s still coming.
The government will hand down its fake budget tonight, Tuesday, March 25, and within days of that the Prime Minister will call the election for some time in May.
But you feel like the unexpected delay has taken all of the momentum out of the campaign. Peter Dutton and the Liberals seem to have gone missing, and Anthony Albanese and Labor are struggling to find traction.
In Monash, the one candidate to come up with a practical local measure is Russell Broadbent.
Last week he announced that if he is re-elected as the Member for Monash, he will use all of his experience and leverage, as an independent in a likely minority government, to get $40 million for Stage 1 of Woorayl Lodge’s new facility on Boags Road just outside Leongatha.
This is a great announcement and one we would like to see all candidates in Monash committed to, especially the Liberals’ Mary Aldred and Labor’s Tully Fletcher who can prove their mettle as representatives of this area right now by getting their parties to agree to the funding if they win office, as part of their national election platform.
As much as Woorayl Lodge has served this community’s aged well since its modest beginnings, with just three permanent residents, in 1960, and notwithstanding the magnificent care provided by its truly dedicated staff, the facility is well beyond its use-by date.
The rooms in the lodge are small and dingy, and recreation areas are limited while there’s no more room for independent living units to be built. There’s also the natural growth in aged numbers to consider.
At the last Census in 2021, there were 2030 people living in Leongatha alone over the age of 60, 1225 of them over the age of 70 and potentially needing somewhere to go in the next 10 years or so.
And that doesn’t take into account those living in surrounding areas using Leongatha as their hub,
The development of a new Woorayl Lodge is an absolute must for the future of this area and any candidate you vote for locally must be committed to matching Mr Broadbent’s bid for $40 million in funding.
We’d also like to hear more funding promises of that kind, for this area, from the other candidates over the next few weeks.
However, what we do need to be wary of as we consider who to vote for is promises that seek to cover up the fundamental problems that we, as Australians, are facing today – cost of living including food and energy prices.
Over the weekend, the Albanese Government made a $1.8 billion promise to fund an energy relief package that will return $150 to households and businesses if they are returned to government.
But how dumb do they think we are? After promising that they would reduce energy prices by rolling out “cheaper” renewable energy, at break-neck speed, household energy bills have gone up by $1000 or more annually – no problem if you live in Camberwell or Canterbury in the seat of Kooyong or Vaucluse in the federal seat of Wentworth but rising energy costs are a huge issue for wage-earners and people in small business.
What happens after the $150 rebate is gone? The high cost of energy is still there.
So, how should you vote at the Federal election next month? Our advice is to look for some small wins locally and support the local candidates pledging to deliver for us, rather than those hoping to simply make up the numbers in the next government.
