I’m running as an Independent Candidate Bendigo West.
Working as a Lawyer in sole practice in regional Victoria for over a decade has given me an insight into the real issues facing regional Victorians, whether it be family law, financial, employment, health, housing or day to day issues.
My love of country life coupled with my legal qualifications and experience underpin and supports my work in wildlife conservation, which includes acting as legal advisor to wildlife organisations, drafting submissions advocating for wildlife, a legislative Bill and countless ePetitions for various conservation organisations, and working closely with Members of Parliament.
The Andrew’s Government’s failures include public housing, emergency housing and health services. Daniel Andrew’s Labor Government has failed regional Victorians in many fundamental ways, especially with regard to a lack of public housing, resulting in inadequate public housing for the homeless. Similarly, emergency housing for women and children at risk of family violence needs greater funding and resources to meet the needs of regional communities.
The lack of housing has forced many women to remain living at risk with their children or older women who are unable to enter the housing market through no fault of their own being forced to accept sub-standard accommodation.
Youth homelessness in regional towns has not been addressed and has been an unaddressed issue for many years.
Under the Andrews Government, the Victorian health system is now broken. We need to remember that Daniel Andrews was Health Minister not that long ago. The lack of a functioning ambulance service for every day Australians, with people waiting for hours to get to a hospital and receive proper health care, is unacceptable and avoidable. The lack of hospital beds has led to people waiting in emergency for hours until a hospital bed can be found, leaving injured suffering and in pain, and very ill without treatment.
Australian Wildlife
The Andrews Government has a scandalous record of grossly inadequate Wildlife protection. One only has to consider only 20 per cent of the state’s 2000 threatened species have had action plans developed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, according to the 2021 report from the Victorian Auditor-General.
DELWP acknowledged that it does not have the resources to complete comprehensive up-to-date action statements for all species in a timely manner, as required by the Flora Fauna Guarantee Act.
After decades of working at the workface in Australian Wildlife conservation organisations, I am very conscious of the widespread, but avoidable cruelty inflicted on our native Australian Wildlife, the risks of extinction of some species, and the reckless destruction of habitat.
The cruel commercial culling of kangaroos for body parts and flesh for human consumption in both Australia and lucrative overseas market, is one example. The Labor government has misled Victorians about kangaroo culling and the cruelty it involves from day one. Originally, Labor promoted the use of kangaroos carcases for pet food that were killed to protect farm damage – to avoid ‘waste’. This has now surreptitiously morphed into a cruel and large-scale private commercial exploitation of a native animal and shows no signs of stopping. Of course, this was Labor’s intention all along.
When elected I will work hard to end this cruel commercial exploitation of a native wildlife species. This must be nipped in the bud; where will it stop?
Australian wildlife is inherently valuable and no native wildlife should be killed for commercial or recreational purposes.
Another Labor government failure is the relentless and cruel annual slaughter of native ducks through a mindless bloody hunt by private shooters, often leaving maimed ducks to die a cruel death or to be rescued by volunteers at personal risk from shooters
Contrary to Labor government claims, duck hunting is not sustainable or humanely supervised. The Game Management Authority acts to protect hunters, not native waterbird species. When elected I will make it a priority to finally end the cruel duck shooting.
The outrageous killing of our native apex land predator the dingo with cruel 1080 poison and the stripping of their skin for pelts for a mere bounty to be paid to hunters, is another Andrews government failure.
It was recognised by 26 of Australia’s leading environmental scientists that dingoes are crucial to a well-balanced biodiversity and repeatedly recommended at both Federal and State levels that the destruction of dingoes must stop and the use of 1080 poison for stock loss to predation be abandoned.
Dingoes in Victoria are a protected species under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act and their unnecessary destruction is an act of environmental vandalism. The Victorian government’s own data show that Victorian farm stock loss to dingoes is negligible. Labor’s continuation of the so-called ‘wild dog’ bounty and aerial baiting for dingoes is a continuation of policies introduced by the previous Coalition government; why should Labor be so reckless in persisting with such policies?
When elected, I will work hard to ensure that the legal protection already given to dingoes is actually implemented and respected and that hybrid dingoes which perform the same ecological function as non-hybrid dingoes are also protected at Law.
I will encourage development of a communication bridge between agriculture and the environment and measures to support farmers in a meaningful way that will help bring to an end forever the need for use of poisons in the environment. Poisons manufacturers should play no role in this bridge for recovery.
Cruel Shooting is Not Management of Introduced Species
And the gross cruelty imposed by the Andrews government upon introduced species such as the iconic wild horse, the Australian Brumby must be stopped.
While management and control has been recommended to protect fragile ecosystems, gross and barbaric cruelty should not be a factor. Stakeholders argue that Brumby population counts are overstated, and when elected I will lobby for better ways of counting Brumby populations and encourage introduction of a Bill for Legislation to ensure Brumby protection without cruelty while ensuring ecosystems are protected wherever necessary.
Please Vote Marilyn Nuske Independent Candidate Bendigo West District NO 1 on Election Day
Welfare and Wildlife
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