Media Releases

Grants totalling $45,000 will help two Bendigo area Scout groups be prepared for a stronger and safer future, Nationals MP for Northern Victoria Region, Damian Drum, said today.

The 2nd Kangaroo Flat Scout hall will receive $30,000 and the 1st Eaglehawk Scout hall will get $15,000.

The money – from a new $4 million state-wide fund - will be used to carry out a range of internal repairs and renovations, including lining ceilings, improve ventilation, refurbish a kitchen and electrical work.

Mr Drum said modern Scouting groups needed modern facilities.

“For generations, the Scouting movement has been helping young people bring out their best, and it is great to see the Coalition State Government helping to maintain that reputation,” Mr Drum said.

Minister for Youth Affairs Ryan Smith said the $4 million program delivered on the Government’s election commitment to upgrade Scouts and Girl Guides facilities across the state.

“With this new funding Scouts Victoria and Guides Victoria will be able to modernise facilities and to continue their fantastic work in supporting, training and mentoring young Victorians.

“This funding also ensures that these facilities are still available for other community needs, such as accommodating local not-for-profit organisations working with young people,” Mr Smith said.

Girl Guides Victoria’s State Commissioner Robinette Emonson said: “We are looking forward to working closely with the state and local governments and the community to achieve outcomes which will be of benefit to everyone.”

Chief Commissioner of Scouts Victoria, Bob Taylor, said: “It is fantastic that the Victorian Government has recognised the importance and benefits of Scouting and Guiding in today’s society and are providing funding to assist us in upgrading our facilities across the state.”

To get involved with your local Girl Guide or Scout group visit www.guidesvic.org.au or www.vicscouts.com.au.

Coalition State Government support for Bendigo’s Discovery Science and Technology Centre has helped put a new twist on a very ancient story.
The Government has agreed to inject $50,000 a year for four years to help keep the Discovery experience fresh and alive. The funding was confirmed in the State Budget.
The centre is putting the finishing touches to an innovative way to look at our night sky – through Aboriginal eyes.
Nationals MP for Northern Victorian Region, Damian Drum, said that the state support had helped Discovery staff create a computer program which showed the Aboriginal equivalents of the ancient Greek and Roman constellations.
“It is fascinating that both the European and Aboriginal star gazers came up with much the same way to try to make sense of the night sky.
“Where European astronomers saw constellations such as the Scorpion and Orion, the Aboriginals of pre-European Victoria saw things such as the snake and the emu.
“I understand the work which is going on in Discovery will be the first time that the Aboriginal view of the night sky will be seen in a working planetarium,” Mr Drum said.
Discovery planetarium co-ordinator, Craig Kendal, said Discovery was excited by the project.
“We’re still working out some of the technical details, but it’s coming together well.”
Craig said a lot of the Aboriginal star information had been lost, but luckily, one early European settler had preserved many oral traditions in a book in the mid-1800s.
“It is likely that the Koori people had better night vision and that the night sky was darker then, because some of their constellations don’t make sense until you pull out a telescope and see that there are stars there, but fainter than we can now see in the modern skies with our naked eye.”
He said that there were “spooky” similarities between some of the ancient European and Aboriginal features.
“It makes you wonder just how far back some of these traditions really go.”
Both societies also had similar uses for watching how the constellations moved across the sky, such as indicating when it was the right time to look for certain foods , to illustrate fables and histories, and for navigation.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan visited Eaglehawk today to send a clear message to the community that the Eaglehawk Primary School would stay open under the Victorian Coalition Government.
While visiting the school, Mr Ryan and Member for Northern Victoria Damian Drum released the recommendations of the Scaffidihugh-Jones community consultation report into the future of the school, commissioned by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
“The consultation report includes input from the school, the school community and residents of Eaglehawk about the best way to ensure a sustainable future for the school,” Mr Ryan said.
“I am delighted to announce today that the $2 million allocated for Eaglehawk Primary School in the May Budget will support the community’s recommendations on infrastructure upgrades.
“The funding will include new toilets, upgraded information communication technology, improved heating and cooling and improved disabled access in the first instance, with additional improvements to be determined once initial work has been completed.”
Mr Ryan said the report included a number of other recommendations, including the need for:
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greater certainty around the future of the school for staff and the community;
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greater community involvement, particularly if the school becomes a community hub;
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meeting the students’ perceived higher emotional and educational needs;
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a plan to build enrolments; and
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the development of a broader curriculum and access to extra-curricular activities.
Education Minister Martin Dixon said the Victorian Coalition Government had honoured its election commitment to invest in Eaglehawk Primary School and to work with the community to secure its future.
“The previous Labor Government’s plan to close the school caused a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty for teachers, students and local families,” Mr Dixon said.
“The Coalition Government is listening to Victorians – we listened to the people

Bendigo’s sporting “jewel” is back
Nationals MP for Northern Victoria Region, and Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development, Damian Drum, said it was a delight and an honour to help officially launch the revamped Queen Elizabeth Oval project.
“The QEO is, in many ways, the jewel in the crown of regional sport in Bendigo, and an important hub of the City of Greater Bendigo.
“This project has re-polished that jewel and reinstates its importance in the life of the region.
“For the past two years Bendigo has been unable to hold State league events because of the state of the QEO playing surface and had a dysfunctional and mostly unusable scoreboard.
“It has been a huge task involving massive earth-moving efforts and surface redevelopments, as well as new sporting infrastructure, often carried out under very trying conditions.
“It is ironic that the project started after more than a decade of record-breaking drought, and then had to proceed under record-breaking summer rains.
“From tomorrow (Saturday) we will begin to reap the rewards of that work and commitment.”
Mr Drum said the Coalition State Government had contributed $1 million to the make-over and was proud of the outcome.
The funding will also allow a second netball court to be developed. This will be ready in time for the 2012 season.
“The project will allow Bendigo to regain its position as an exciting home to high profile regional and national sporting events.”
The $2.2M redevelopment of Bendigo’s premier sporting oval – the QEO will be officially opened by Greater Bendigo Mayor Rod Fyffe and Damian Drum.

The opening will take place prior to the start of senior match between the QEO’s traditional tenants South Bendigo and Sandhurst.

Works that have taken place as part of the redevelopment project include:-
• Site clearing including removal of 15,000 cubic metres of soil;
• Preliminary earthworks to reshape the oval and provide extra space for spectators;
• Drainage works and installation of an irrigation system;
• Installation of a concrete slab to support three turf cricket pitches;
• Final surface works including the laying of 17,000 square metres of drought tolerant turf;
• Installation of new fencing;
• Construction of player/coaches shelters at the front of the grandstand;
• Construction of new concrete terraced spectator seating for approximately 400 people at the Barnard street end of the ground;
• Upgrade of the ovals lighting system to meet AFL match standards;
• Installation of a new electronic LED scoreboard;
• Resurfacing of the existing netball court; and
• Installation of new perimeter seating to the oval.

City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Cr Rod Fyffe said since 2003 Council has shown a high level of commitment to the QEO with over $7.5m being spent on works including construction of a $4.4 million multipurpose facility to serve both the Aquatic Centre and QEO, a significant upgrade of the grandstand change rooms, installation of match and training lights and connection to the recycled water pipeline.

“The redevelopment of the ground now means that Greater Bendigo has a sporting ground with the capacity to host major sporting events to local, state and national standards.

“The works commenced in late 2010 following ten of the driest years Bendigo has experienced.

“During the works phase of the project we experienced one of the wettest summers for some time and a cooler than average autumn. However despite the weather this project was still delivered basically on time.

“This has been a much needed project which has been funded by a million dollar contribution from the Victorian State Government, a $812,000 contribution from the Federal Government and a $500,000 contribution from the City of Greater Bendigo.

“It’s also been an important joint project between the State and Federal Governments and the City of Greater Bendigo that demonstrates an enormous commitment to local sport and a strong desire to make the QEO one of Victoria’s top cricket and football facilities.

“I believe the new QEO surface and facilities will provide the sporting and general community with long lasting benefits for many years to come and I can‘t think of a better way to open it than with a match between the ground’s traditional tenants Sandhurst and South Bendigo,” said Cr Fyffe.

QEO key user groups include the Sandhurst Football/Netball Club, South Bendigo Football/Netball Club, Bendigo Football/Netball League, Bendigo Bombers, Bendigo Pioneers, Bendigo Cricket club and Bendigo and District Cricket Association.

Year 9 and 10 students from the Bendigo region have been encourage to take part in this year’s Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize, designed to nurture an understanding of Australia’s involvement in battles at Gallipoli and the Western Front.
Nationals MP for Northern Victoria Region, Damian Drum, said 10 Victorian students representing each of the State’s education regions, would be selected to take part in a two-week study tour to sites of military significance.
Students entering the competition are required to submit their thoughts on: What does the ‘spirit of ANZAC’ mean to you? Are the values displayed by the ANZACs at Gallipoli and the Western Front still relevant today?"

Competition details are available on-line at www.veterans.vic.gov.au, or by emailing veterans@dpcd.vic.gov.au/

Mr Drum said all entries would be assessed by regional panels and 27 regional finalists would be interviewed in December. The successful 10 will take part in the premier’s Spirit of Anzac Study Tour during Term 1 school holidays next year.

Entries close on October 21.

Mr Drum said it was always encouraging to see young people attending Anzac ceremonies in the region and he believed students were keen not to allow the lessons of Gallipoli and the Western Front to be lost.

‘This is a chance for young people to explore the spirit which drove Australians on those battlefields and to develop some insight into how those characteristics might still apply in modern regional society,” he said.

A $2 million allocation in this month’s State Budget will allow Maryborough and the Central Goldfields Shire to react swiftly to any future growth opportunities, Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development, Damian Drum, said today.
Mr Drum was in Maryborough to discuss the Shire’s bold new Go Goldfields strategy, which won major funding from the new Regional Growth Fund.
“Go Goldfields is the result of some inspired visioning from the shire and the broader community,” Mr Drum said.
“It sets out a plan under which the region will be able to quickly take up any growth opportunity which comes its way.
“Go Goldfields was developed by Central Goldfields Shire – in partnership with agencies and the community – after a great deal of planning and discussion.
The community focussed on five priorities: early childhood, youth, skills and training, community development and environmental sustainability.”
Mr Drum said that work had identified the strengths and weakness in the region and now Go Goldfields would work to achieve community renewal and addressing some of the social and society challenges.
Among the strategy’s early aims are ideas on creating stronger families, to reconnect young people with the community, improving literacy and a range of family-based well-being projects.
“There would, for example, be a specialist children’s librarian and an expansion of the Bookmates program to improve the language skills of young children,” Mr Drum said.
“There would be expanded speech pathology services through the Maryborough District Health Service.
“And there would be efforts to get better linkages from the various assistance agencies which already exist across the community.
“This would all be geared towards developing stronger foundations, strong building blocks in the Central Goldfields Shire. This, in turn, better equips the community to react positively and quickly to new economic circumstances.”
Mr Drum said it was an example of getting the basic community settings right to be able to build new futures.
The strategy will be driven by an Alliance chaired by Central Goldfields Shire Mayor Cr Chris Meadows-Taylor and will include representatives from across all sectors of the community, including:
• ASETERIA Disability Services
• Bendigo Health
• Central Victoria Health Alliance
• Emergency Accommodation and Support Enterprises
• Goldfields Education and Learning Centre
• Maryborough District Health Service
• Maryborough Education Centre
• Maryborough Police
• Salvation Army
• St Luke’s Anglicare
Mr Drum said the strategy had been discussed with the Liberal/Nationals Coalition before last November’s state election and had won a firm commitment of support.
“The Coalition State Government is now delivering on that commitment.
“I’m proud that the Government is partnering Maryborough with the strategy which, I believe, can help create a much brighter future for Maryborough and the region,” Mr Drum said.

A new initiative to give young Victorians a stronger voice in rural Victoria will be launched by the nationals Mp for Northern Victoria Region, Damian Drum, in Rochester tomorrow (Thursday).
The joint program by the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, and the Victorian Rural Youth Services will include research on young people’s well-being across the state and use the data to develop better youth policy for governments.
The project will also build a clearer idea of the needs of services set up to support young people.
Mr Drum said it was interesting that the project was being launched in Rochester in particular recognition of the role young people had played and were playing in flood recovery in the town.
Rochester suffered severe damage when the Campaspe River burst its banks in January leading to the worst flood in the town in living memory.
Many people are still struggling to fully get back on their feet after the floods.
Mr Drum praised the efforts of the Youth Affairs Council and Rural Youth Services in driving the initiative.
The project is funded by the Victorian State Government. Mr Drum is launching the initiative in his capacity as Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development.
The launch will take place at the Rochester and Elmore District Health Service function room on the corner of Pascoe Street and Village Drive from 2pm.

Young people have a chance to be included in local government decision-making thanks to the Rural and Regional Youth Inclusion Grants program Nationals MP for Northern Victoria Region, Damian Drum, said today.
Applications for the grants of up to $30,000 are now open.
“The Rural and Regional Youth Inclusion grants aim to improve young people’s links with their communities by giving them better access to local government decision-making,” Mr Drum said.
Eligible councils can apply for grants of up to $30,000 each for projects which will include young people in decision making and planning across all the business of local government.

"The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to providing opportunities for regional and rural young people to participate in their community and this is another avenue where this can take place,” Mr Drum said. Mr Drum is also Parliamentary Secretary for Rural and Regional Development.

"Young people can make valuable contributions when it comes to local government decision making and their involvement in shaping our communities can also help increase their confidence and skills.”

The Rural and Regional Youth Inclusion Grants are one component of the Coalition Government's Youth Action Strategy, which also includes regional and rural workshops, resources and research designed to increase young people's participation in the community.

Applications for the Rural and Regional Youth Inclusion Grants close on 26 May 2011.

For more information on the grants contact Information Victoria on 1300 366 356.

February 21, 2011

Nationals celebrate victory for regional students
Nationals MP for Northern Victoria Region, Damian Drum, said today he was heartened by reports this morning that the Gillard Federal Government was on the verge of ditching its controversial Youth Allowance rules.
Under sustained pressure from across regional Australia, the Gillard Government is likely to reinstate previous eligibility rules which improved access to university for tens of thousands of students from regional areas.
Mr Drum has been a vocal critic of Labor changes to the Youth Allowance 18 months ago by then Education Minister Julia Gillard.
“While the backdown is welcome, it should never be forgotten that Prime Minister Gillard did it to try to save her failing government. She cares more about her political survival than regional students.
“The Nationals have fought for this long and hard. Nationals Senator Fiona Nash and my federal colleague in Gippsland, Darren Chester, have been magnificent.
“But the need now is to make sure the return to old eligibility rules happens as quickly as possible. The money needed to ensure country students get a fair access to uni must be in this year’s Budget.
“We cannot let the uncertainty and pain go on for one more year,” he said.
Nationals Victorian Senator-elect, Bridget McKenzie, said she was rapt that students in inner and outer regional areas would get a fair deal at last.
“I just wish Prime Minister Gillard had back-flipped earlier. It would have prevented a lot of stress in many, many families.
”I fear that many young people who should have been going off to uni this week won’t be because of the mess Labor created with the Youth Allowance.”
She said the political battle waged by the Nationals made her even more keen to be a part of the team when she takes up her Senate position later this year.

February 25, 2010

Big QEO roll-out defies hail or high water
The long-awaited reconstruction of the surface of Bendigo’s famous Queen Elizabeth Oval enters its final stages today as contractors begin laying new turf.
The $1 million reconstruction is running to schedule despite contractors losing more than two weeks of work because of storms and heavy rain.
“The contractors and the City of Greater Bendigo have put in an enormous effort to make sure we have the best possible football and netball facilities this coming season,” Nationals MP for Northern Victoria, Damian Drum said today.
“The total rebuild of the playing surface, drainage and the sub-surface layers was made possible by an election commitment of $1 million by the Liberal/National Coalition before last year’s state election.
“People have been fascinated by the QEO project,” Mr Drum said. “I doubt most people would have realised until now how complicated a top class football oval was.
“But this was absolutely essential to the future of top level sport in Bendigo. We were losing elite sporting events because the previous Labor Government would not partner the City of Greater Bendigo fully.
The QEO became a mud-bath after rain and dangerously hard when dry, and the AFL refused to allow its players to compete because of fear of injury
‘The Coalition said it would take the job on, and we have.”
Bendigo Football Netball League CEO, Steven Oliver, said the turf laying which begins today was a fantastic moment for Bendigo football and the city generally.
He said the football surface would be ready to see action in mid-June and the first battle would be between QEO co-tenants and traditional rivals, Sandhurst and South Bendigo.
“This was much needed, and it’s been a huge job.”
Mr Oliver has a special reason to feel a connection with the major reconstruction. As the Nationals candidate for Bendigo West at the November election, he had made the QEO project one of his highest priorities.
“Steven was relentless in promoting this project both to the Coalition and then to the community,” Mr Drum said.
“So, this is also a great day for Steven.”
The new netball facilities, including spectator stands would also be completed by mid-June.