Families at Bundalaguah Primary School are rightfully frustrated after learning the school’s long-awaited toilet block upgrade has been downgraded to a partial renovation, despite receiving more than $425,000 in funding.

The Nationals’ State Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, said the situation is unacceptable and he has raised the matter directly with the Minister for Education, Ben Carroll, in State Parliament, requesting a full explanation and urged the Minister to commit to building what was promised to the school.

“Last year the Victorian School Building Authority allocated $425,366 for this project and the school community was invited to choose between two designs – a renovation or a full rebuild,” Mr Bull said.

“The school community made it clear they wanted a complete rebuild of the toilets. Now, months later, they’re being told the project will only involve renovating the existing structure due to cost constraints, and the school is expected to contribute $20,000 of its own funds. That’s simply not good enough.”

Mr Bull said the cost blowout raises serious questions about the Government’s financial oversight and planning.

“Let’s be clear. This is a toilet block. Just on half a million dollars should be more than enough to deliver a safe, modern facility for students. We are not talking about a complex build,” he said.

“In fact, you could construct a three-bedroom home with multiple bathrooms for this kind of money. So why can’t we build a basic toilet block for this amount?”

Mr Bull said the Allan Labor Government’s refusal to deliver the rebuild as promised has let the school community, especially the students, down.

“When government money is allocated, there should be certainty. If poor planning or an off-the-shelf design led to a budget miscalculation, the burden should not fall on the school or its families,” he said.

“Students deserve to feel safe and comfortable using their school facilities. They asked for a new toilet block with a bird and windproof roof. I think they should get one.”

Mr Bull has called for an immediate review of the project’s scope and budget transparency.

“Labor can’t manage money and can’t manage school projects.

“It’s time the Minister stepped in and fixed this,” Mr Bull said.

Caption: Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, with School Council representative Skye Doyle, outside the Bundalaguah Primary School, where $450,000 is not enough to replace the toilet block – a figure a new house can be constructed for in the private sector.

The Victorian Government has been sitting on $10 million of Federal funding to fix the Mallacoota-Genoa Road - for four years!

Gippsland East Nationals’ MP, Tim Bull, said the allocation was secured by his Federal colleague, Darren Chester, way back in 2021 after the bushfires the year prior and handed to the State.

“All we have seen to date is around half a million spent on ‘studies’. For goodness sake, get on with the job and fix the road,” he said.

“Concerns have been raised by local CFA groups who have included Mallacoota-Genoa Road in a list they say is in such poor condition, it is impacting on response times.

“The Mallacoota and District Recovery Committee (MADRA) has also flagged its concerns, listing it as a bushfire recovery priority five years ago.

“No-one can answer where the money has gone,” said Mr Bull, who used the last sitting week of State Parliament to pressure the Government to start work as soon as possible.

“We will soon be approaching another summer and tourist season, and we need to have this work well and truly completed before then. That means it needs to commence in the next two months.

“If this money was allocated to a metropolitan road, it would have been done long ago.

“Labor has not only continually cut roads funding in its own budget, but it cannot get organised enough to utilise the funds provided to it from the Federal Government.

“They simply cannot manage money, and our road users pay the price.”

Caption: Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, on a section of the Mallacoota Road.

Monday, 30 June 2025

Cuts to fisheries officer positions that come into effect next week, could not come at a worse time, with abalone poaching on the increase in East Gippsland.

That is the view of Gippsland East Nationals’ MP, Tim Bull, who has continually called on the State Government to restore these positions.

It comes as two different poacher groups were reported operating at the same time in Cape Conran just this month. One was on East Cape and one was on West Cape.

Mr Bull said he had seen the video filmed after dark with heat sensor technology that clearly shows the illegal operations.

“With this sort of activity on the increase, it is ludicrous Minister Dimopoulos and the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) were pushing ahead with the cuts.

“The stupidity of it all is when you raise these sorts of scenarios, the VFA says it is growing its Major Crime Task Force but will not provide any detail on how much it will grow, which suggests it will not be growing by much, if at all.

“Regardless, it will continue to be Melbourne based – so a fat lot of good it will do for this sort of illegal activity in our region. We need fisheries officers on the ground,” said Mr Bull.

“This comes on the back of the VFA admitting there are 100,000 recreational anglers in the State who do not abide by the rules. It has repeatedly said there are one million recreational anglers in the State and 90% do the right thing – that means 10% (or 100,000) are not.

“In response to this, the VFA says people with one fish over the bag limit, or one fish undersize, is not important, but this is selective and silly commentary to defend their cuts. The reality is a number of these offenders are taking well over their bag and catch limits, are taking many undersize fish, and purposely doing the wrong thing on a much bigger scale.

“VFA knows this and VFA also knows that with less fisheries officers, this will grow.

“The reason it is being done is the State’s finances have been grossly mismanaged to the stage we are to hit a debt level of $192 billion with interest repayments alone of $28.8 million per day. This is the simple reason we are seeing cuts across the board.

“We need a government that will restore the State’s balance sheet to a respectable level, because under Jacinta Allan it is out of control. Labor cannot manage money and Victoria’s fisheries and fishers are paying the price,” said Mr Bull

Caption: Phil Piper, chair of the Mallacoota and District Recovery Association (MADRA), pictured with Tim Bull MP, represents one of the many groups that have raised concerns over the cuts to the region’s fisheries officer positions along with an image of a Cape Conran abalone poacher caught in the act.

Monday, 30 June 2025

Football and netball clubs across the Gippsland East electorate have until next month to submit applications for funding to improve their facilities through the state government’s Country Football and Netball Program.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, said the program was open to all football and netball clubs, associations and umpiring organisations across the region, with grants of up to $250,000 available.

“Our local sporting clubs and associations play such an important role in our community, and these grants are a chance for them to seek funding for projects such as new change rooms, lighting upgrades, improved water efficiency and more,” Mr Bull said.

“Being involved in sport is a great outlet for everyone, where you can make new friends and connect with your community while improving your own health and wellbeing.

“I look forward to supporting these projects and others across the region to make sure our local people have access to the sporting facilities they are entitled to and deserve.”

Clubs must first register with their local council before making an application.

Mr Bull said more information was available at sport.vic.gov.au/funding/country-football-and-netball-program with applications closing soon on July 7.

Caption: The Nationals’ State Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, encourages local football and netball cubs to consider applying for the Country Football and Netball Program.

Monday, 23 June 2025

With more rail line disruptions between June and August and bus replacements to be put in place, East Gippsland passengers will no longer be forced to disembark at Pakenham East and transfer to overcrowded Metro trains.

The change restores much-needed continuity and will save passengers more than an hour in travel time and a great deal of inconvenience and comes after Gippsland East MP, Tim Bull, raised the matter in Parliament with the Minister.

“It was a disgrace this arrangement was ever considered acceptable,” Mr Bull said.

“To force country passengers onto Metro services, adding 26 extra stops, lengthy delays, no secure luggage storage, and the associated accessibility issues, was simply unfair.”

Mr Bull said many passengers were unfamiliar with Metro timetables and struggled with the added complexity of changing services mid-journey with a long walk between the bus terminal and the station, which was less than ideal for our senior travellers.

“Negotiating crowded suburban trains with luggage, and in some cases mobility challenges, was not a fair trade for the loss of our direct train service,” he said.

“Thankfully, common sense has finally prevailed.”

He also renewed his call for a modest but meaningful timetable change to improve weekday travel options, extending the existing 9:22am coach service from Sale to begin in Bairnsdale.

“This would allow passengers from East Gippsland to connect with the Traralgon train and reach Melbourne by lunchtime instead of the late afternoon,” he said.

“It is not a big ask, but it would make a big difference.”

Mr Bull said he will continue to advocate for practical and sensible improvements to V/Line scheduling that meet the real needs of regional communities.

Caption: State Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, says common sense has prevailed with the return of direct V/Line coach services for Bairnsdale travellers. This will remove the inconvenience of transferring to Metro trains during the ongoing disruption, which is expected to continue until the middle of August.

Monday, 16 June 2025

The lack of active lighting at two upgraded intersections in East Gippsland has raised serious safety concerns, with local residents and road users demanding answers.
The Nationals’ Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, has called for immediate action to activate lighting infrastructure at the intersections of Bullumwaal Road and Howitt Avenue in Wy Yung, and Princes Highway and McEacharn Street in East Bairnsdale.
“While the road upgrades at both sites were completed in time for Easter, the power poles erected as a part of the upgrades appear to be mere decoration at this stage, as they don’t work,” Mr Bull said.
“With shorter daylight hours and poor winter visibility, it’s simply not acceptable for these safety features have been left inactive without explanation.”
Mr Bull said many locals were rightly questioning why key components of the projects remained unfinished and was seeking clarification from the responsible authorities.
“I’ve asked the Minister for Roads and Road Safety for an explanation of what has caused the delay, when the lights will finally be activated, and why the lighting was not delivered as part of the main works,” he said.
“These are critical intersections that see significant vehicle and pedestrian movement. The failure to provide adequate lighting poses a genuine risk to community safety, particularly in early morning and evening hours.”
Mr Bull said he had written to the Minister seeking urgent advice on the completion timeline and stressing the need to prioritise public safety.
“Our communities deserve better than half-finished safety upgrades. The job should have been done properly the first time,” Mr Bull said.
“Yet again, we’re seeing signs the Allan Labor Government can’t manage money and can’t manage key infrastructure projects.”
Pictured: Bullumwaal Road intersection looking north towards Wy Yung at dusk. The road projects were both completed in time for Easter, yet the lighting infrastructure remains inactive.

Wednesday, 11 June 2025