C4GS congratulates re-elected Member for Nicholls, Sam Birrell

The Committee for Greater Shepparton congratulates Sam Birrell on his re-election as the Member for Nicholls.

C4GS Chair Leigh Findlay said C4GS is looking forward to Sam leveraging the experience from his first term to open doors and create opportunities for the region to contribute to Federal policy design and to access funding and programs.

“Given our scale of food production, processing and logistics, we have an important role to play in delivering the Government’s Food Security Strategy.

“We know water and energy security, workforce, skills and housing, and efficient national freight networks are key to food security. We look forward to working with Sam to ensure our producers, processors and broader supporting industries and communities contribute to the design of this strategy,” said Leigh.

With the parliament unable to reconvene until all results are confirmed, Leigh encouraged Sam to prioritise meetings with local industry and community networks to ensure he is best placed to reflect Nicholl’s policy and infrastructure priorities.

“Priorities like a second river crossing, a sports and events stadium, an institute for applied health learning and increased and more diverse housing supply remain, but we also want Sam to work with the Albanese Government to shape policy and support our region’s access to funding and investment,” said Leigh.

Leigh acknowledged the challenges for the electorate given the Albanese Government’s control of the lower house and strong position in the upper house.

“There are areas of alignment between the needs of our region and federal policies for energy, roads and food security, however we remain extremely concerned for water policy,” said Leigh.

C4GS is also eager to see Nicholl community represented in the development of regionally-relevant policy reforms.

“As one of Australia’s most culturally diverse communities, and home to one of the largest first nations communities outside a capital city we have the community and the experience to help shape policy that works for the regions and communities across Australia,” said Leigh.