Echuca’s champions for regional growth

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and State Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards announced the picks on Thursday, December 12.

All appointees were chosen for their strong ties to local community, industry and business groups and their leadership experience.

“These new appointments to the Regional Partnerships strengthen our ability to champion local priorities,” Ms Allan said.

Having already completed four years as a member, Ms Taaffe is returning to the partnership for another term, now in a more senior position.

“The regional partnerships are a really clever way of government having reach and engagement with regional communities,” Ms Taaffe said.

“This time, I indicated that I was interested in taking on the role of deputy chair.”

Advocating for local social services and healthcare is a key motivator for Ms Taaffe’s involvement in the partnership.

“When we talk about economic development, generally as a community, a region and as a government, we talk about agriculture, manufacturing and tourism,” Ms Taaffe said.

“The care services form a fairly significant part of our economy and yet we don’t talk about them.”

She aims to support businesses in the care sector and use her expertise to highlight the social impacts of economic development.

Reminding Victorian governments of cross-border populations in Moama and beyond who access services in the region is another priority for Ms Taaffe.

“That has to be considered in funding and policy decisions,” Ms Taaffe said.

“We deliver more than what our population needs if you just look at the population of Campaspe because we’re also delivering across the river.”

Echuca would be among the 10 largest Victorian cities if its population was combined with Moama’s and should be treated as such, Ms Taaffe said.

“It operates as one community ... so making sure that those implications are considered is really important, particularly for our local government and hospital,” she said.

Ms Taaffe was also involved in identifying other locals who could be of benefit to the partnership and said Mr Francis was well suited for the role.

“He’s got fantastic experience and knowledge in the tourism space, which is critical to our area,” Ms Taaffe said.

Mr Francis said he was very pleased to be chosen as a member for the regional partnership.

“Being able to work holistically on behalf of the region is something I’m very passionate about,” he said.

The partnership was an effective way to provide feedback to the government and helped members find funding and growth opportunities on offer, he said.

As a member, part of Mr Francis’ role is to listen to different industry representatives about their concerns and relay that information back to the partnership.

His focus will be on developing the local tourism and hospitality workforce and skills, as both industries and the broader economy benefit from the trades.

Identifying training opportunities and endorsing the industries as career paths were important factors in supporting the area, Mr Francis said.

“We’re a high people industry, so we do create jobs,” he said.

“We need to make sure that, across the entire state, there’s a good, broad mix of reasons people would come to Australia, Victoria, and then to the region.”

There are nine partnerships across the state which have supported a range of initiatives for local communities since 2016.

For more information on the Regional Partnerships program, visit rdv.vic.gov.au