Nationals MP Tim McCurdy has responded to news Jaclyn Symes is considering running for his lower house seat by calling her a “string puppet”.
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Speaking in Parliament, Mr McCurdy accused Labor of being “corrupt” and said the governemnt had delivered scraps for the North East rail line, instead of properly fixing the broken system.
“Labor has promised the world and delivered a string puppet. Jaclyn Symes, a member in the other place, is another city-centric Labor politician who brags about her roots in Benalla,” he said.
“We have said we will deliver trains; you have said you were going to design some wheels.”
Mr McCurdy then turned his anger to a lack of support for farmers who need help to deal with the rising price of hay and water.
“Mother nature is having a rostered day off at the moment. I certainly grieve for the farmers,” he said.
“It is a very difficult situation, and I think that environmental water could be used to bring that water price down temporarily.”
He said farmers wanting to grow a paddock of grass for dairy of beef cows should be allowed to spend $65 per megalitre for environmental water, instead of the $350 price of temporary water.
Meanwhile, Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan has responded to criticism from Ms Ryan for being too Melbourne focused.
She said the federal commitment to upgrade the North East rail line only came about because of pressure from the Victorian government.
“It’s no surprise because the Member for Euroa would prefer to attack her political opponents than work constructively on fixing the problems experienced by passengers on the North East line,” she said.
“We’ve always said that once the North East line track is upgraded, the new trains will be ready to run and our announcement this week confirms just that.”