As part of the Riv’s year in review, we spoke to state Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh about the highs and lows of the past 12 months, and looked ahead to next year.
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Reflecting on the year that’s been, and a decade-long career in state politics, the highlights for Mr Walsh were all about the local wins.
Securing funding for sport, education and health infrastructure across the region were achievements that immediately came to mind.
The announcement of federal and council funds for the redevelopment of Victoria Park in Echuca, an issue the Nationals had long advocated for, was high on Mr Walsh’s list.
“That project has been talked about for a long time, so finally getting that money ... is a major step forward for the town,” he said.
Just as significant — maybe even more so — was Echuca Football Club winning the flag for the third time in a row.
“It’s important,” Mr Walsh said with a grin.
“It gives you your bragging rights against your colleagues in adjoining electorates that have teams in the Goulburn Valley footy league.”
Pushing for the Inquiry into the 2022 Flood Event in Victoria, tabled in parliament in July, was a meaningful success for the region that involved substantial work, Mr Walsh said.
“The Nationals actually fought to get that upper house inquiry done after the October ’22 floods,” he said.
“There’s some good recommendations in that for (Echuca), and a lot of work went into submissions from people in the area.”
Stage two construction of new facilities at St Joseph’s College, and the opening of the Kildare campus, was a highlight and positive outcome for education, Mr Walsh said.
The opening of the Cancer and Wellness Centre at Echuca Regional Health in recent years also stood out for its contribution to local health care.
“That’s a major addition to what is already a great hospital,” Mr Walsh said.
Organising for five local high-school students to walk the Kokoda Trail as part of a government initiative was also a triumph, Mr Walsh said.
Among some of the accomplishments, however, were loose ends that still needed to be tied up.
The announcement of new emergency service facilities, along with the re-opening of Rochester and Elmore District Health Service in Rochester, was welcome news, but challenges remained, Mr Walsh said.
“The new CFA and SES shed is progressing far too slowly, but is progressing,” he said.
“The hospital is obviously going to be re-opened now, which has been a long process to repair it from the floods. Still, the issue to be resolved is of flood mitigation around the hospital.”
A key outcome Mr Walsh would like to see from the flood inquiry’s recommendations is changes to the operation and management of Lake Eppalock.
Additional infrastructure to manage the lake’s water levels should be an important consideration for flood mitigation in the Campaspe area, Mr Walsh said.
“That could reduce the peak of a flood in the future,” he said.
More broadly, the cost-of-living crisis presented a major challenge for those in Mr Walsh’s electorate this year.
“It’s impacting people in different ways, but there is a real issue there. Increased taxes by the current government, particularly on property, has caused some hardship,” Mr Walsh said.
While Mr Walsh recently stepped down as the Nationals leader in Victoria and will not run for re-election in the 2026 state election, work still lies ahead.
Accelerating the process of the Rochester Flood Study is an urgent issue to be addressed, ensuring the severity of flooding in the town is reduced.
“We don’t want that dragging on for ever. That’s something that’s hanging over the heads of everyone in Rochester,” Mr Walsh said.
Rebuilding and opening the public swimming pool in Rochester is also an “absolute priority”, he said.
Mr Walsh said there was an opportunity to redesign the Ogilvie Ave roundabout in Echuca to improve the flow of traffic, especially for transport and trucking.
Developing the infrastructure around Ogilvie Ave was also important as the area was expected to become the demographic centre of Echuca within 15 years, he said.
With the appointment of a new Victorian cross border commissioner this year, reigniting work on problems with interstate policing will be a crucial task.
“There’s some cross border issues that we’ve been working on for a long time,” Mr Walsh said.
The NSW border ending at the high watermark in Victoria has presented ongoing challenges with crime and other police-related issues.
A solution that was proposed in the past suggested that, from a policing point-of-view, the border between the states should effectively disappear.
“The concept was to have the local government areas immediately on both sides of the river as a common policing area,” Mr Walsh said.
“At the moment, any police here in Echuca have to have a special permit to go across the river and do anything.”
Another pinch point will be around local health care, particularly shortages in the number of doctors available.
“The hospital is doing a great job of filling that void with the emergency department at the moment,” he said.
In terms of Mr Walsh’s accomplishments over the past decade, the number of hospitals built across his electorate — first Swan Hill, and later Murray Plains — is the greatest.
“Kerang got a new hospital when we were in government, Boort got a new hospital when we were in government, Echuca got a new hospital when we were in government,” he said.
Almost every health service in the electorate received substantial funding and redevelopments during his time in the seat, Mr Walsh said.
There are now more female Nationals MPs than males, which the party has quietly but purposefully worked on over the past few years, he said.
Mr Walsh also led the Nationals to win the highest number of seats in Victoria since 1943.
Raised in Boort, Mr Walsh said his family ties to the area motivated him to represent the electorate.
“This is where you grow up, spend your whole life. My family’s been over in that part of the world for six generations, so this is part of our family history,” he said.
The Nationals will now hold a pre-selection council before the next state election to determine who the next Murray Plains candidate will be.