Greater Shepparton City Council, as well as state Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell and state Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe have all said more was needed for the region.
Funding announced in the budget that will benefit Greater Shepparton includes a $29.8 million investment delivering nine return train services per day between Shepparton and Melbourne, $7.1 million to operationalise a new PET scanner at Goulburn Valley Health, and $480,000 to support Basketball High Performance Hubs in five towns, including Shepparton.
For education, there was also $1.2 million for the Shepparton Education Plan, supporting student engagement, wellbeing services and post-secondary pathways at Greater Shepparton Secondary College, as well as $1.3 million to continue place-based education plans at Greater Shepparton Secondary College and John Fawkner College, helping connect students and families with community-focused supports to improve learning and wellbeing outcomes.
More than $15 million was also included to support five supportive housing sites, including one in Shepparton.
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali said the budget also included a statewide investment of $1 billion for regional road maintenance; however, this was not an increase in investment for regional Victoria.
“This funding is allocated each year for regional road maintenance and does nothing to improve the current situation of the region’s roads,” he said.
“Without a genuine increase in funding, the maintenance backlog will continue to grow, and the same issues will re-emerge year after year.
“Investment in safer roads is critical for communities like ours, where local and arterial roads carry heavy freight volumes and support agriculture, industry and regional movement.”
Ms O’Keeffe echoed the sentiment.
“Many are dangerous intersections and roads that need urgent attention,” she said.
Cr Sali said while reduced public transport fares and improved rail services were positive steps, access to transport remained a key issue locally.
“Cheaper fares don’t help if services aren’t available,” he said.
“In Greater Shepparton, bus frequency and coverage remain major barriers for many residents.
“Investment in fares needs to be matched with investment in local services so people can actually get where they need to go.”
Ms Lovell and Ms O’Keeffe also criticised the lack of funding for more bus services and a bus network review for Greater Shepparton.
According to Ms Lovell, the government’s funding for a “bus bonanza” would benefit city suburbs but skipped Greater Shepparton.
Ms O’Keeffe said a bus review was “urgently needed to be undertaken”.
“This has become a critical issue for our community, and I am astounded that we have not been included as one of the regions to be included for a review,” she said.
Cr Sali said council had been clear in its advocacy for six priority projects for the region, including funding for roads, a bus network review, regionally significant public health system, water security, an enabling infrastructure fund, and the Shepparton Sports and Events Centre.
“It is disappointing to see our major priorities not being funded,” he said.
Ms Lovell said the budget “ignored” the Shepparton electorate and failed to seriously invest in regional Victoria.
She said promised money for new CFA tankers and pumpers was spread out over a decade, meaning only $10 million was available per year for new firefighting vehicles, while the government would take $6.87 billion from Victorians through the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund over the next four years alone.
Ms Lovell also said this budget also contained no funding for vital projects essential to Shepparton’s growth and development as a major regional centre, including: Shepparton Sports and Events Centre, stage two of the Goulburn Valley Health redevelopment including an integrated cancer centre and a clinical health school, stage two of the Banmira Specialist School redevelopment, and stage one of the Shepparton bypass.
Ms O’Keeffe has labelled the budget one that “under-delivers for rural and regional Victoria”.
“We know that Victorians are experiencing ongoing cost-of-living pressures, and Labor increasing the state’s debt will only place further strain on families and household budgets,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
While she welcomed the $7.1 million for a new PET scanner at GV Health, she said the hospital’s next stage of redevelopment remained underfunded by the government.
“GV Health is the only hospital in rural and regional Victoria without a dedicated integrated cancer centre,” she said.
“GV Health’s hospital redevelopment is only 50 per cent complete. You simply cannot half finish a project.”
