SECURITY FOCUS: Family First Senator, Steve Fielding, and the party’s candidate for Indi, Rob Cavedon, discussed how to keep the community safe during a visit to Wangaratta yesterday.
Written by STEVEN BURKE.
FAMILY First has put its hand up to continue the fight to expand Lake William Hovell and Lake Buffalo.
The party’s sole Senator, Steve Fielding, visited Wangaratta yesterday with the Family First candidate for Indi, Robert Cavedon.
Mr Cavedon runs the Eurobin business, Game Meats Company, and put up his hand to run for Family First after Mr Fielding helped defeat proposed legislation which would have seen meat exporters slugged with an extra $50,000 fee.
Mr Cavedon said water security remained the biggest issue for the Ovens and King valleys’ irrigators.
"Everyone along the Ovens and King rivers pays for water licences, but when it gets to the crucial time when we actually need water, there is nothing available because the dams don’t hold enough water," he said.
"Land was acquired sometime ago to build the Big Buffalo Dam yet nothing has been done to expand its storage.
"There is no doubt in my mind if Big Buffalo was built, not only would it secure the water supply of the North East, but boost flows to irrigators on the Murray River."
The party also put security on the streets on the agenda as a major election issue.
Mr Fielding said just as Family First pushed for the $220 million Get Communities Working Fund (which was established under Kevin Rudd’s leadership), it would push to establish a $200m Make Communities Safer Fund.
"People don’t feel as safe today as they did five years ago," he said.
"This fund would tap into the knowledge of local councils and leaders and work on strategies to make streets safer, which could be something as simple as having better lighting in some areas."
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