6,000 Victorian households in the dark

The Yarra Ranges was again thrown into darkness after recent wild winds and storms hit the region hard.

State Liberal Member for Eildon, Cindy McLeish says the Andrews Labor Government has failed thousands of Victorians who remained without power, hot water and other basic essentials.

Ms McLeish said, “Almost a week after damaging winds across Victoria approximately 6,000 Victorian households were still in the dark and fending for themselves.”

“The Andrews Government must ensure all families in the dark are reconnected urgently.”

Locally, hundreds of Yarra Ranges households and businesses were in and out of blackouts for a number of days. This comes just as Victorians emerge from the world’s longest lockdown and tourists flocked to the Yarra Valley region for the Melbourne Cup long weekend. Ms McLeish continues, “Close to almost a week on from damaging winds and Victorian families and businesses were rightfully asking why they still couldn’t get power or access to the internet.”

“The power outage made it difficult for businesses to operate as per usual and left families in darkness.”

The Andrews Labor Government must focus on reconnecting Victorians to essential services, providing relief including generators and helping local communities recover.

Ms McLeish said, “Thank you to our local SES services, emergency services and AusNet are working hard to get people’s power back on, clear fallen trees off roads and clean up debris. They have been inundated with calls and are trying hard to help everyone they can.”

“The State Government needs to step up to ensure generators are available to families and businesses who need them and help services get the power back on without delay,” Ms McLeish concludes.