Following a request to have buffet car facilities on the Bairnsdale rail service and bag checking re-introduced to support senior passengers, the Minister for Transport has said neither will be happening.

Gippsland Nationals’ MPs, Tim Bull (Gippsland East) and Danny O’Brien (Gippsland South), say the response was disappointing.

“These are services we have had for decades and now they are gone. In a period when we are meant to be improving services, we are going backwards in certain areas,” Mr Bull said.

“The Minister has advised that to have catering (buffet) facilities, modelling shows ‘42 seats would need to be removed on a three-carriage train and 84 seats on a six-carriage train’.

“This is ridiculous, we are not asking for a five-star restaurant, just a cup of tea and either a sandwich or a scone and you should not have to remove 42 seats out of a carriage to achieve this.

“Whoever did the ‘modelling’ needs to go back to the drawing board and have another look.

“It was also stated the checked luggage service will not be introduced on VLocity trains.”

Mr Bull said if VLocity trains were going to be used on long haul journeys like the Bairnsdale line, they needed to be designed for suitability and if they could not cater for something as simple as a small buffet, then they are not suitable.

“I would not have thought it was that hard. Pull a dozen or so seats out of a carriage, put in a small counter and serve a cuppa and some basic food items,” he said.

Nationals MP for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien says Gippsland rail passengers deserve better.

"The Minister's position makes no sense because the government has just added a buffet car on the long haul VLocity trains on the Albury line - so why should Gippsland miss out?

"This is an issue that Gippslanders raise with me regularly and the government needs to revisit its position,” said Mr O’Brien.

Caption: Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, says V/Line basic passenger services, such as catering and luggage checking, must be reinstated on the Bairnsdale line.

Monday, 22 May 2023

Ladders will be installed at the recently upgraded Cape Conran boat ramp to enable safe access to and from watercraft at the jetty, after the initial precinct design omitted the installation.

Having made representations on behalf of locals reporting safety concerns at the ramp, Nationals Gippsland East MP, Tim Bull, is pleased to have had it confirmed ladders will be installed.

"The issue is that at low tide there is quite a big gap from a boat gunwale to the jetty and many are finding it dangerous, particularly when there is a swell.

“I was surprised ladders weren’t in the original work, but it is pleasing they will now be installed.

"Regular users of the Cape Conran boat ramp know the launching area is susceptible to changing weather conditions and fluctuating tidal influences, which can be challenging to negotiate for even the most experienced mariner.

"At low tide, conditions are more precarious, as the water level is significantly lower than the structure.

"With multiple incidents and accidents reported to my office over recent months, it needed to be addressed before something more serious occurred.

"Ensuring boating facilities are fit-for-purpose and safe for recreational and commercial users is imperative and quite frankly having ladders to access the jetty from the water, should be a no-brainer.

"Thankfully, common sense has prevailed, and the ladders will be installed shortly," Mr Bull said.

Caption: The Cape Conran jetty will soon be installed with access ladders to improve boating safety.

Monday, 15 May 2023

Over-zealous call centre staff purporting to be representatives of the Victorian Government’s Energy Upgrades (VEU) are causing distress to East Gippsland residents.

It has prompted Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull to raise the matter in State Parliament recently, asking the Minister to ensure these people indeed worked in the VEU scheme and given they were, what steps are in place to stop the harassment of residents and whether the call centres were internationally located.

“Multiple constituents have contacted my office stating several different representatives from a call centre have made unsolicited contact, pushing the Victorian Government Energy Upgrade initiatives and instructing homeowners to make a booking.

“This is despite constituents stating they do not want to be contacted or participate in the scheme. One received four calls in 24 hours - two on Sunday at 5pm and 10pm, another the following morning and then again after lunch, where they would not take no for an answer.

“These are people on the ‘do not call register’ and after the first call they requested not to be phoned again.

“Given this situation, I have asked the Minister to confirm whether these call centres have been engaged by the State Government and, if so, what parameters have been put in place around what could generally be described as respectful behaviour for those declining the offer.

“I have also asked the Minister to advise that if the government has engaged these centres, where they are located, as some have reported the initial delay associated with international calls.”

 Monday, 15 May 2023

The upcoming State Budget is tipped to be a difficult one as Victoria forges headlong into financial disaster, with the Andrews Government’s own forecast projecting a state debt of $165.4 billion by 2026.
Our current debt is higher than the debt of New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined. All of those states went through Covid, so that does not account for the excuse we are given.
We are currently paying $10 million per day in interest (yes that is right, just read that again) and by 2026/27 our annual interest repayments will be around $8 billion.
To add to this, we have many projects that were promised in the lead up to last year’s election being cancelled less than six months later, including the rail link to the airport and fast rail to Geelong as cost over runs on metropolitan projects hits the $30 billion mark.
How anyone can say the Andrew’s Labor Government is doing even a half reasonable fiscal job is beyond me.
The trouble is we seem to have a younger inner-city generation that does not care about debt and is driven by a “what’s in it for me” mentality and that is how they vote.
By 2025/26, just two years away, the debt will equate to $24,000 for every single Victorian – and yes it has to be repaid – by us.
Having hit you with the harsh realities of our economic situation, the Budget will still present some opportunities.
Within it we will have funds allocated for health and emergency services infrastructure and service provision.
At the top of the list locally is the $230 million we need for a new Bairnsdale Hospital, and health should be at the top of the list in this Budget.
A close second should be country roads and, after years of having funding cut for road maintenance, it needs a significant boost.
Our roads are the worst they have ever been and they were bad before the wet years we have had, so that is no excuse.
Regardless, they need fixing and funding reductions to road maintenance will only ever end one way – which is what we are seeing.
Mental health services need additional investment, and from the emergency services portfolio, we desperately need new police stations in Orbost and Maffra, and fire stations in Lakes Entrance and Metung.
Labor also needs to deliver the $800,000 it promised for the new Lakes Entrance indoor sports stadium to commence.
Daniel Andrews has already announced there will be a 10% cut to the public service – this cannot come from our communities.
In the lead up to the election the public service grew by 17% and now he is saying it will be cut by 10%.
This must come from his spin doctoring bureaucracy in Melbourne that was employed pre-election, not the front-line staff who are part of our communities and who we rely on in our local offices of Parks, DEECA, and Housing etc.
I am pleased we are having what has already been announced as a tight Budget as you cannot continue to spend like a drunken sailor, but I would also expect that within the departmental budgets, we get some of the above important projects our community deserves, and that all our local staff levels are maintained or boosted.

Pictured: Tim Bull with volunteers from the Metung Fire Brigade on the new fire station location on the corner of Metung Road and Hardys Lane.

Monday, 8 May 2023

A wooden boardwalk providing access to one of East Gippsland’s best views has not been repaired since being damaged in December, blocking access to the popular tourist attraction.

Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said Nyerimilang Heritage Park, between Metung and Lakes Entrance, attracts around 90 visitors a day on average, many more in holiday periods.

“Damage to a wooden boardwalk along the track leading to the popular lookout was reported to Parks Victoria by volunteers prior to Christmas 2022,” Mr Bull said.

“They were quick to remove access but have not been so quick in getting it repaired, which is no real surprise due to the fact much of the bushfire damaged infrastructure in the region is still not fixed.

“I don’t blame Parks workers locally, who are a good bunch, but they are suffering from the bureaucratic dithering and lack of support from the Minister for Environment to get the work done.

“This boardwalk should be a relatively easy fix and it is disappointing to have tourists turn up not be able to get to this popular lookout.

“I took the opportunity to ask the Minister in Parliament last week, to ensure reinstatement works are completed prior to the mid-year school holidays,” he said.

Caption: Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, is calling on Parks Victoria to provide necessary funding to fix the damaged Gippsland Lakes Lookout near Nyerimilang Heritage Park, which has been closed since before Christmas 2022.

Monday, 8 May 2023

The hypocrisy of the Andrews Labor Government was on show last week when it boasted the use of Darwin Stringybark in the construction of the new St Kilda Pier, says Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull.

“This is hardwood timber harvested from the native forests of the Top End (not plantation) and they brag about using that, while at the same time they are closing down our native hardwood timber industry here in Victoria.

“The duplicity is astonishing. Whether the forests are in the Top End or Victoria should not matter,” he said.

“The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognises timber as the only carbon storing building material in existence and states: ‘In the long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fibre or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit’.

“This is because the harvested trees are manufactured into product that stores carbon and the replanted trees also store carbon as they grow.”

Mr Bull said the native timber industry in East Gippsland was a significant employer and important to the economy of not only several towns, but the region more generally.

“These workers have not been treated with any respect after the government promised to keep the industry afloat until at least 2030, but it is all lies.

“The biggest lie is they have said they will transition to plantation timber by 2030, but to do that the hardwood plantations would have to be 20-30 years old now and the reality is they are not there, they have not been planted.

“So, we have a situation where the Andrews Labor Government is saying they will transition to something that does not exist and that is not fair on businesses and workers in the sector.”

Wednesday, 3 May 2023