VICTORIA’S political landscape had a shake-up over the holiday break with two MPs representing Loddon areas given key roles.
Northern Victoria Region’s Jaclyn Symes has been made treasurer in Premier Jacinta Allan’s cabinet following the retirement of Tim Pallas.
The Labor MP was previously the emergency services minister,
And following the dumping of John Pesutto as Liberal leader for Brad Battin, Western Victoria Region’s Bev McArthur has been made shadow minister for local government and scrutiny of government.
Mrs McArthur, 75, has been in Parliament since 2018.
Another Liberal for Western Victoria Region, Joe McCracken, has been made shadow cabinet secretary in the Battin team.
Murray Plains MP Peter Walsh, who stepped down as Nationals’ leader late last year, claimed Ms Symes would continue the current Government’s moves to increase taxes.
Mr Walsh said regional and rural Victoria, which represented 26 per cent of the state’s population, had seen the Government’s infrastructure spend gutted to just 13 per cent of the state’s budget.
“Under Labor and Jacinta Allan spending has been halved – you only have to drive on the regional road network to get that message bone jarringly and tyre blowing clear,” Mr Walsh said.
“In the Allan Labor government’s reshuffling of its Cabinet chairs on the deck of the Titanic, Ms Symes has also been returned to the Regional Development portfolio – which means Labor has averaged a new minister every 20 months in this critical portfolio in the past four years.”