I also note that the Gippsland, Warrnambool and Shepparton services are also exceedingly abysmal. I would like to add quite a liberal dose of irony to what Mr Hodgett has said in that all parliamentary seats of the aforementioned V/Line services are represented by none other the same party coalition of with Mr Hodgett is a part of. 

Denis Napthine and Terry Mulder never stood up for the Warrnambool service (the line goes through both the seats the represented), let alone put recurrent investment into V/Line generally, even when both where in positions to reverse the neglect.

I also find bewildering that the side of politics “standing up” for regional train services, claiming Labor doesn’t care for regional Victoria, neglects to mention that they ripped roughly $180 million of owner’s equity out of V/Line while in government. 

In the end that’s all the Coalition really stand for: neglect. Neglect of infrastructure, neglect of society, neglect of education, health and economic and social opportunities. Name it and the Coalition will neglect it. As such, I ask all who complain of the V/Line service to ask yourself: Who Is really standing up for regional Victoria. The one who come closest, for all their dim-witted actions, is the Labor Party. 

It is not surprising there are so many disconnections for water and power. Environmental hazards have been exported, with jobs and factories to places like China which has no current real world saving environmental policies, but are avoided by projecting them many years into the future. Wasn't the environmental movement about saving the world everywhere?

All of us are subsidising many environmental mistakes made by Labor and Agenda 21 sustainability policies.

From soil eroding ripping out of weeping willows when it floods, to the no dams policies which prevent water storage, to electricity prices pushed up by costly solar projects which are of no benefit when costs are actually analysed by technical experts.

When are our leaders going to wake up? We are all being taken for a ride at high costs. With job prospects fading for many, we need to ask why is there no Aussie common sense being used?

Victoria Walks commissioned the report Safer Road Design for Older Pedestrians with the support of a TAC Community Road Safety Grant and VicHealth.

It found 39 per cent of people who die as pedestrians are aged 65 and over, yet they are only 15 per cent of the population. 

The research showed that drivers should have given way in at least 72 per cent of crashes involving older pedestrians at traffic lights and 42 per cent of crashes at other intersections. Very disturbing is the number of older walkers being hit on footpaths, precisely where they should feel safest. 

Victoria Walks is appealing to all drivers and riders to take greater care and watch out for elderly walkers in particular. It’s not only the considerate thing to do, it is a legal requirement. As drivers, we need to take care of walkers, especially older people because when they are hit, even at slow speeds, many never fully recover. 

The Border Ovarian Cancer Awareness Group would like to sincerely thank the Wodonga Turf Club and participants in our Celebrity Noodle pony race held on October 15. The $17,000 raised is our best ever and means another year of ovarian cancer trials for local women and the cancer centre.