If you drive down Mate St at 60km/h, your tyre blows out and you hit something it’s an accident but if you are doing 65km/h and your tyre blows it is a speed-related accident. No politician tells you speed caused the accident but simply it is speed related. An extreme example is a meteorite hits your car whilst 5km/h over the speed limit, it is speed related.

British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” and don't our politicians know that to create a cash cow called “road safety cameras”, with the emphasis on revenue and not road safety.

Earlier today a press release from the Honourable Natalie Hutchins MP was issued in which it stated “The Andrews Labor Government will seek a suspension of the industrial action being taken by Carter Holt Harvey WoodProducts Pty Ltd.”

It went on to say: “An application will be lodged under section 423 of the Fair Work Act seeking a suspension of the lockout. As an independent umpire Fair Work Australia is best placed to help both parties reach an agreement,” and, “Both parties need to sit down and negotiate a new EBA in good faith – without resorting to industrial action”.

The parties to this dispute have already asked the Fair Work Commission to help reach agreement on the outstanding matters. Accordingly, to the extent that any application made by the Andrews Labor Government involves further conciliation before the Fair Work Commission, this will be no different from the previous conciliation that has already occurred with the assistance of Commissioner Ryan.

The parties have appeared before Commissioner Ryan to progress the outstanding matters, some of which remain unresolved with the CFMEU (which represents certain employees).

The terms and conditions of the EBA need to be considered by all employees and their representatives, not just the CFMEU. For that reason, we have asked all of you to vote on the proposed EBA on Friday and Saturday.

I encourage you all to vote in favour of the proposed terms and conditions to enable you and your colleagues to return to work and the Myrtleford community to move forward rather than returning to the Fair Work Commission for further bargaining.

Northern Victorians will now have the opportunity to have their concerns about environmental watering heard in a new parliamentary inquiry.

Following the failure of Labor and the Greens to support the inquiry in the Upper House, I have directly referred the inquiry to the Environment, Natural Resources and Regional Development Committee. As a member of the committee, I would like to invite community input into the inquiry, with public submissions due by August 25.

Under the terms of reference for the inquiry, the committee will assess the role of environmental water management in preventing or causing ‘blackwater’ events; use of water management tools such as carryover and their impact on the availability of water for irrigators; any barriers to more efficient use of environmental water and how those should be addressed; and fees and charges applied and whether they differ from those imposed on other water users.

I encourage all Victorians with concerns about environmental water management to have their voices heard. Anyone wishing to make a submission can send it to enrrdc@parliament.vic.gov.au with their name and contact details.