Labor government cuts funding for the Shepparton/Mooroopna bypass
By Aaron Cordy
THE Federal and State Labor Governments have again failed in their responsibility to regional Victoria in the wake of Dan Andrews Commonwealth Games debacle, by withdrawing the $208 million allocated to the Shepparton bypass.
Last Thursday, November 16, Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King released findings of the Government’s Federal Infrastructure Review and revealed funding for Stage 1 of the Shepparton Bypass project will be cancelled.
The $208 million was allocated by the Former Federal Coalition after the 2017/18 State Budget allocated $10.2 million over three years to undertake preparatory works and land acquisition for the project that brought so much hope to the region.
“Despite assurances from the former Premier, despite millions of state taxpayer money funding the business case into the project, and despite $208 million put forward by the former Federal Coalition government, Minister Catherine King has cancelled what is an active, ongoing and vital project,” said Nationals Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe.
The bypass has been decades in planning and would give residents a second river crossing, the need of which became starkly evident in last year’s floods when residents from Mooroopna and towns west of Shepparton were cut off from vital services like the Hospital.
“As feared, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has put the bypass on the list of Victorian projects Labor won’t fund following more than 200 days of delay and uncertainty,” Federal Member for Nicholls, Sam Birrell said.
“The critical nature of this project was apparent during the October 2022 floods when the causeway between Shepparton and Mooroopna was cut, but Labor has categorised the project as not demonstrating merit and lacking any national strategic rationale.”
The Goulburn Valley is a prime producer of food for the country and has an estimated 25% of the state’s trucks registered locally, the fact that the Government can so easily withdraw vital funding for necessary infrastructure shows a complete lack of understanding of how the country runs outside of the capital cities.
