WHERE’S THE MONEY, MINISTER?
Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur recently used a constituency question in Parliament to ask the Minister for Regional Development about promised funding to Queenscliff traders.
In August 2018, the Member for Bellarine said:
“… we are today announcing a grant of $50 000 to the traders … in Queenscliff and Pt Lonsdale … to enable the local traders to develop strategies and initiatives to drive visitation …”
Mrs McArthur told the Parliament on March 4, “It was promised to be ‘for the traders of Queenscliff to determine how it will be spent’ and ‘absolutely in the hands of the Queenscliff traders’, yet these people remain in the dark about the outcome and believe they have been ignored and the money instead spent by Regional Development Victoria and its subsidiaries.”
Mrs McArthur asked the Minister “Where did the promised money go? Was it spent by Tourism Greater Geelong? If so, then what happened to the consultation? If not, then where did $50 000 go?”
Quotes also attributable to Bev McArthur MP:
"The Minister, Jaclyn Symes and Member for Bellarine, Lisa Neville need to come clean and tell the Queenscliff traders and Victorian taxpayers exactly how $50,000 has been spent or, if not spent, where it currently sits."
"They both also need to explain why an election promise has so clearly been broken."
"In this time of business uncertainty and despair, traders could well use the $50,000 to ensure they keep attracting business or at least are ready for the upturn, post-COVID-19."
25 March 2020