General News
6 December, 2022
What influence outside donut?
EDITORIALSATURDAY’S Victorian election confirmed that influence charting the state’s fortunes is within two hours of Melbourne. The centre of the political representation donut is totally red, generally speaking, out to about two hours’ travel...
EDITORIAL
SATURDAY’S Victorian election confirmed that influence charting the state’s fortunes is within two hours of Melbourne.
The centre of the political representation donut is totally red, generally speaking, out to about two hours’ travel time from Melbourne. It’s where the seats to form government are held, and pretty much have been for two decades..
And then from inside that donut hole has emerged a green inner circle on the Victorian electoral landscape - the Greens predicted to take more inner Melbourne seats and already talking about demands and influence on the re-elected Labor Government of Premier Daniel Andrews.
Some Loddon communities are effectively in that red centre on the map, the seat of Ripon on a knife-edge but tipped to be claimed by Labor’s Martha Haylett (the caveat being postal votes are srtrongly favouring incumbent Louise Staley for the Liberals).
But if Ripon does fall, there was an interesting scene playing out on election night - Labor faithful celebrated not within the electorate but in central Ballarat, that regional capital obviously claiming Ripon as “theirs”. Under the hub and spoke of the economic pyramid, southern Loddon communitie have no relationship or connection with Ballarat. The Loddon spoke radiates out from Bendigo.
It puts up the pointy question of how much will Loddon communities be heard in this term of government and what responses will be forthcoming if decisions, and presumably infuence, are vested elsewhere? Premier Andrews pledged on election night a government for all Victorians, all Victoria, as have his predecessors through the generations. Whoever ends up representing Loddon communities in the new Parliament - we know Nationals leader Peter Walsh and Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan will be back in Spring Street - will need to be active, strong and determined to deliver policies and actions that equip every corner of the Loddon Shire from Boort and Pyramid Hill to Inglewood and Wedderburn, Bridgewater, Newbridge and Tarnagulla in achieving population and economic growth.
The local wheels may well need to be squeaky to ensure local voices are heard, locals wanting the desired responses and actions and smaller communities are not dictated by those deep inside the red and green donut.
The Loddon Herald looks forward to delivery, hopefully, earlier than promised, of child care in our local communities. And we will continue to provide a voice for key infrastructure investment - connection of water and sewerage to Newbridge, securing reliable water for Campbells Forest, far better resourcing in money and people to bring our crumbling local roads back to a standard that enables safer driving and can handle the vital movement of agricultural freight from our farms to silos, ports and depots.
Seventy-five per cent of Victorians live in 25 per cent of the geographical area of Victoria - they must become enlightened on how much so few across so great an area of the state make their lifestyle, livelihood and wellbeing possible.
The green donut wants more influence ... so too do rural communities and people.