By Stephen Linnell
STATE Opposition leader Ted Baillieu has urged Werribee South vegetable growers to begin a poster campaign targeting Premier John Brumby.
Mr Baillieu met with the Werribee South Ratepayers’ Association (WSRA) on Thursday night to discuss issues including high salinity levels in the recycled water used on farms in the area.
The association also outlined how up to 40 per cent of growers’ water was being lost due to cracks in the irrigation system, and planning issues associated with their location inside the State Government’s green wedge.
Mr Baillieu, who attended a similar meeting six years ago, said nothing had changed and it was time for the residents to pressure the Premier.
“We’ve had two elections since … as you know, bugger all has happened,” Mr Baillieu said.
“My interest in this area has been just as strong as it was in the past.”
But Mr Baillieu was caught short when he could not recall how many residents lived in Wyndham – initially saying about 50,000, a number roughly 70,000 shy.
While sympathetic to the concerns of the farmers, Mr Baillieu offered no guarantees of assistance if the Liberals won the next election.
“We not only sympathise but hopefully after 2010 we can do more than sympathise,” he said.
Mr Baillieu said he did not believe Mr Brumby knew of the concerns surrounding Werribee South, and urged residents to put posters up along the Princes Freeway highlighting their concerns.
He claimed a similar campaign in Warrnambool and Portland in Victoria’s south-west helped change the State Government’s decision to provide them with a rescue helicopter.
Mr Baillieu also said he supported construction of the “Tarneit rail link” as outlined in Sir Rod Eddington’s transport report.
The WSRA had written to Water Minister Tim Holding, but he declined to attend the meeting.
Tarneit MP Tim Pallas could not be reached for comment before Star went to press.
