NATIONALS leader Peter Walsh has eyes on more electorates in the next state election, urging the party to “build the army” and “rid this state of the Labor government”.
Mr Walsh attributed the cost-of-living crisis to the Labor Government’s decisions.
“They’re taxing the people that are actually investing in housing, that would enable someone to rent,” Mr Walsh said at his party’s recent state conference.
“With changes to the (Residential) Tenancy Act, changes to land tax, people are selling their rental properties and investing interstate because it is no longer attractive to invest here.”
The most recent rental law changes in 2021 “expanded the rights and responsibilities of renters and rental providers and made renting in Victoria fairer and safer”, stipulating “a ban on rental bidding, new rental minimum standards, no eviction without a reason, allowable modifications by renters (and) urgent repairs”, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Mr Walsh cited Aboriginal Cultural Heritage assessments as another cost to home buyers.
“It takes $10,000 for a lot for cultural heritage studies to be done and a hold-up of many years to get that through,” he said.
“They are costs that are passed on to the young families that are wanting to buy a home in the future.”
The comments came after the successful motion by the Mallee Nationals branch for a future Coalition government to “ensure owners who have provided food and fibre for the nation and international trade” receive the “same respect and consideration granted to our First Nations people in any discussions or decisions regarding the use of their land”.
Mr Walsh called for the building of an army of volunteers, supply lines of donations, and an armament of messaging to be the priority of the party heading to the 2026 election, and to stick to the ideology of hands-off government and priority of private investors.
A Victorian Government spokesperson reaffirmed the government’s commitment to regional Victoria.
“Over the past decade we have invested an average of $4.5 billion every year in regional Victoria, while the Liberals and Nationals averaged just $1.8 billion a year when they were last in government,” the spokesperson said.
“Their record shows that they never deliver, and when they were last in power they closed regional hospitals and shut down regional rail lines.”
