THE ALP candidate for Monash, Tully Fletcher, owes our community an apology.
His announcement (SGST 31/03/2025) claiming responsibility – “doing my part” – for $2.4M to make local roads safer is misleading and an affront to the community and hardworking South Gippsland Shire Council (SGSC) civil servants.
The funding scheme for local roads improvement – the Federal Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program (SLRIP) – requires an application by state governments or Local Government Authorities (SLRIP website). The application was due in January this year –well before the Federal ALP candidate appeared on the Monash horizon!
If, as he claims, this is a result of him “delivering” for Monash, it would be an improper use of a merit-assessed funding program. Pork barrelling, Mr Fletcher!
It was the community working with the Council that identified Simons Lane as a priority project over 12 months ago. And it was hard-working Council officers who prepared the successful application.
The ALP candidate had nothing to do with it.
To ensure there was no impropriety, I’ve asked the SGSC Acting CEO and the relevant ward councillors to clarify whether Fletcher was involved in the application.
Perhaps Fletcher thinks that we should be grateful to him and his party for having a scheme such as SLRIP. Well, this is exactly the kind of ‘cargo cult’ mentality that our big party machines encourage:
“Just wait, we’ll deliver”.
We need more for Monash than a cog in the political machinery.
In the March Federal budget – which had nought for Monash – Community Independent Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, NSW), secured $250m for roads. Scamps was praised for her “constructive advocacy” by Labor’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Catherine King (Sun Herald, 23/03/2025 p.14). Monash, like Mackellar, needs a representative who will advocate for more than just themselves.
John Tebbutt, Meeniyan
