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Gippsland MPs to lead regional Parliament debateVictorian Coalition MPs representing Gippsland will lead debate on a series of motions dealing with key issues for the future of East Gippsland at the special regional sitting of the Upper House in Lakes Entrance this week, October 15 and 16. By Kevin Balshaw - 14th October 2008 - Back to News Victorian Coalition MPs representing Gippsland will lead debate on a series of motions dealing with key issues for the future of East Gippsland at the special regional sitting of the Upper House in Lakes Entrance Wednesday and Thursday, October 15 and 16.
The National Party’s Upper House Leader, Peter Hall, will move that the House acknowledges the importance of the commercial fishing industry in East Gippsland.
Mr Hall’s motion calls on the Government to work with the industry toward establishing a new wholesale fish market following closure of the Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market at Footscray at the end of March next year.
Liberal Party Member for Eastern Victoria, Philip Davis, will introduce a broad motion supporting East Gippsland’s economic and social development and environmental sustainability.
The motion notes that a sequence of natural disasters – fire, flood and drought – has had an especially adverse impact on the region in recent years.
Liberal Party Member for Eastern Victoria, Edward O’Donohue, will be the lead speaker on a motion that calls for measures to ensure a viable long-term future for the East Gippsland timber industry.
The motion seeks to acknowledge the important role a sustainable logging industry can play in forest regeneration, forest management and fire prevention.
It notes the State Government’s failure to honor a 2006 election promise to the Gippsland timber industry through its Our Forests Our Future strategy and the unnecessary delay in introducing a new timber industry strategy, and that the Government’s inaction is risking jobs and investment in east Gippsland.
Mr Hall, Mr Davis and Mr O’Donohue said the motions had been formally listed on the notice paper for the Lakes Entrance sitting to draw the Government’s and wider public attention to major issues and challenges facing East Gippsland communities.
They said the sitting also presented an invaluable opportunity to highlight the future potential of the region and ensure all members of the Upper House were familiar with the region’s diverse enterprise, the strength of its community, and its world-class natural attractions.
Other listed motions relating to regional issues deal with coastal planning, public transport services, opportunities arising from declaration of the Australian Coastal Wilderness and Australian Alps as national landscapes, the Gippsland flood recovery program, the parliamentary report on the Gippsland bushfires, deficiencies in mental health services, public land management, road construction and maintenance, and health services.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: kevin.balshaw@parliament.vic.gov.au
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