Barnaby Joyce has kicked off his federal election campaign with the opening of the Echuca-Maoma bridge project in regional Victoria and a brief dip into water issues.
“We’ve got an election on, it is all about democracy,” he said.
The bridge is one of the largest infrastructure projects in nothern Victoria and southern NSW.
The deputy prime minister described it as “an incredible piece of infrastructure that gives incredible pride to people on either side of the border”.
“We have to make this nation as strong as possible as quickly as possible in light of the geopolitical circumstances that are before us, and also for the economies that reside on both sides of the bridge”, he said.
The new crossing over the Campaspe and Murray rivers is set to improve the flow of traffic by enabling heavy and oversized vehicles, restricted from the existing Murray River Bridge.
The project is said to have provided a significant boost to the local economy supporting more than 400 direct and up to 1100 indirect jobs.
Mr Joyce was campaigning in the seat of Nicholls.
With Nationals MP Damian Drum retiring, it opens a three-way contest between the Liberal Party’s Steve Brooks, the Nationals’ Sam Birrell and an independent campaigning on water policy, Rob Priestly.
Asked for his position on what would happen if the nation could not meet its Murray-Darling Basin water recovery targets by 2024, Mr Joyce said: “I don’t believe in buybacks. We will be focusing absolutely on making sure we protect the economic rights of people not only on the lands, but in the towns.”
“I’ll be making sure we protect the rights of people in this area all the way through.”
Disclaimer: This story has been written in Ms Rahman’s personal capacity.
