Bright residents will have a rare opportunity to watch democracy in action in their own backyard when Victoria's Legislative Council holds a sitting in the town in April.
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It will be first time the Upper House has sat regionally in five years and just the sixth time in two decades.
President of the Legislative Council Nazih Elasmar said a range of activities was being planned over the course of a week which would allow community members to participate, learn more about the Victorian Parliament and interact with members.
"This will be a wonderful opportunity for the communities of North East Victoria to experience the Legislative Council and for members of the Legislative Council to engage with those communities," Mr Elasmar said.
Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, members voted to hold a sitting day in the bushfire-affected North East in October or November.
"Bright was an important hub for responding to last summer's bushfires and continues to play a pivotal part in the region's recovery," Mr Elasmar said. "Holding a Legislative Council sitting in Bright demonstrates our commitment to and support for the region."
The Legislative Council will now meet in Bright on April 29.
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"Taking the Legislative Council out of Melbourne to hold a sitting in a regional location is an important way of demonstrating the Legislative Council represents and works for all Victorians," Mr Elasmar said.
The announcement came the same day that Legislative Assembly Member for Benambra Bill Tilley criticised the government's "city-centric" COVID response.
"The North East was one of the major causalities of this city's second wave, collateral damage to appease your city mates," he said. "The Benambra district has not seen one single case of COVID-19, not before the second wave, and not after it."
Mr Tilley said while North East schools were cancelled, businesses shut down and residents only able to leave the house for four reasons, five minutes away in Albury it was life as normal.
"Businesses failed, people lost jobs, loved ones were cut off and people were left homeless - the rules didn't tally with our reality," he said.