Voicing concerns: Residents line up to tell their stories at community meetings discussing power outages.
Almost 300 people attended community town hall meetings on Wednesday, January 31 to voice their concerns about constant power outages across the region.
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The meetings, hosted by State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland, were held in Longwood, Euroa, Violet Town, and Nagambie, where Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell and Victorian shadow minister for energy David Davis joined her.
Powerful conversations: Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland and Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell hear the complaints about power outages.
Ms Cleeland said the constant power outages impacting regional communities could not continue.
“It was so important to hear from those impacted by these power outages and understand the very real effect this is having on households and businesses,” she said.
“These outages are doing more than just keeping residents in the dark, they are hitting people’s pockets at a time when they can least afford it, preventing people from working and forcing many businesses to close.”
Ms Cleeland said she would continue to advocate for the local community, and the outages would be her number one priority to raise when parliament resumes this month.
She said the Victorian Government must take the issue seriously and “prevent further turmoil for our regional communities”.
“These outages, and AusNet’s role in them, is something that I have been working on over the course of my time in parliament, even before the most recent string of power outages.
“I have engaged with AusNet on multiple occasions already regarding the outages and continue to do so to ensure we can resolve these issues.”
Powering change: Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland addresses a town hall meeting called to hear about power outages.
Ms Cleeland said personal stories from the town hall meetings would help support the case for AusNet to invest in upgrading infrastructure to deliver a more reliable service.
“Your stories contribute to building a comprehensive understanding of the hardships faced by our community, ranging from financial burdens to health and safety concerns,” she said.
“Together, we can build a stronger case for necessary action.”
Ms Cleeland encourages residents who were unable to attend a meeting in-person to continue sharing their stories by emailing her at annabelle.cleeland@parliament.vic.gov.au
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