Q&A - 2022 State Election - Ovens Valley Candidates

Tim McCurdy - The Nationals Explain how you would help create more opportunities for youth in Ovens Valley – specifically around employment and education – to help diminish the need for people to leave the area? Youth are so important to our communities. The best way that we can support our youth is by providing solid educational facilities, career pathways, and a place to live. The Coalition is doing this across the Ovens Valley by investing in schools, speeding up the planning process for new housing opportunities, and supporting local TAFE courses and local learning. We have also committed to long term funding of Neighbourhood Houses to ensure local people can access local courses and develop their skills whilst staying in the region. What are your energy policies and how will these help ease cost of living pressures for Ovens Valley residents? The Nationals have a strong energy policy that will drive down power bills by putting locals first. We will reserve 100% of new conventional onshore gas for Victorian customers, making gas cheaper and more reliable for the Ovens Valley. We will also be providing targeted relief by striking out the daily fixed supply charge for six months, saving households up to $235. We will also make accessible grants for community groups to install community batteries. Further, solar panel rebates for up to a million households and home batteries, establishing a $1 billion hydrogen strategy, and unlocking more power by upgrading transmission infrastructure. Our strong policy will provide cheaper power for the Ovens Valley. Mark Bugge - Freedom Party of Victoria Explain how you would help create more opportunities for youth in Ovens Valley – specifically around employment and education – to help diminish the need for people to leave the area? Less red tape and a 100% GST rebate for small business for the first 12 months to get Victoria back in business and create more jobs. What are your energy policies and how will these help ease cost of living pressures for Ovens Valley residents? New investments in clean coal and gas will provide affordable energy for everyone. Zuvele Leschen - Labor Party - Victorian Branch Explain how you would help create more opportunities for youth in Ovens Valley – specifically around employment and education – to help diminish the need for people to leave the area? My sons left for university and came back to live and work - as have many of their friends - so this is an issue I understand. The education measures already talked about will help here – if young people don’t need to leave the area to get the skills they need, they’re more likely to stay once they’ve got them. One of the big attractions of the area is the range of sporting activities it offers, so Labor’s commitment to upgrade local sporting facilities like the netball courts at the Barr Reserve are important. What are your energy policies and how will these help ease cost of living pressures for Ovens Valley residents? We know the cost of living is making it harder for families to make ends meet - and only Labor has a real plan to help. We’re delivering the $250 Power Saving Bonus to make sure people are getting the best deal on their energy bills, and if we’re re-elected we’ll bring back the SEC, putting energy back in Victorians’ hands to drive bills down. We’re delivering Free Kinder for all three and four-year-olds from 2023, saving families up to $2500 per year, per child - and free TAFE courses to make sure every Victorian has the opportunity to get the skills they need for the job they want. Zoe Kromar - Australian Greens Explain how you would help create more opportunities for youth in Ovens Valley – specifically around employment and education – to help diminish the need for people to leave the area? Our plan to build new and sustainable homes in the region will create thousands of long-term job opportunities, while also bringing more young people to the community to work in our many growing industries. Limiting rental increases will ensure workers won’t be forced out of our region by rising rental prices - an issue I and many others have faced. This region is amazing to live in, and housing is in high demand. By supplying all people with available and affordable housing, we can ensure we all have the opportunity to live and work here. What are your energy policies and how will these help ease cost of living pressures for Ovens Valley residents? Fossil fuels don’t just destroy the environment but are now significantly more expensive than renewable energy. Wind and solar are currently the cheapest source of electricity generation and storage in Australia, and their prices continue to fall. We have a costed plan to replace coal and gas with 100% renewables by 2030, which will protect our climate while bringing energy costs down. This will ease the cost of living for local residents while protecting our environment for future generations. Julian Fidge - Liberal Democrats Explain how you would help create more opportunities for youth in Ovens Valley – specifically around employment and education – to help diminish the need for people to leave the area? • Reduce state taxes in regional areas to improve regional wages and salaries. • Increase housing so that teachers and our young people can find a place to live • Increase education of relevant subjects through regional TAFE schools and university campuses, so students don’t have to leave to study • Provide a voucher system that funds students, not institutions, so students can choose where they want to go for school, TAFE and university. • Improve internet and phone services in our region to allow better online learning. What are your energy policies and how will these help ease cost of living pressures for Ovens Valley residents? • The Liberal Democrats support renewable energy, but also recognise the need for sustainable baseload energy. • In this region, we will build hydroelectric dams, which will also mitigate the flooding we suffer. There is plenty of capacity for dams like the Big Buffalo Dam. • In regions that have coal-fired power plants which have closed, we will install safe nuclear power plants in the old coal mines to re-use the mines and the existing electricity grid connections. • We will also invest in the new gravity-driven storage systems, which use solar and wind power to lift large weights that drive generators as they fall back down. • Our full range of policies can be found at vic.ldp.org.au The Wangaratta Chronicle attempted to contact both Anna Wise (Family First Victoria) and Aisha Slater (Animal Justice Party) on repeated occasions, but failed to get a response from these candidates or their represented parties.

Q&A - 2022 State Election - Ovens Valley Candidates

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