00:02Well, the main question on everyone's lips today has been what leadership's built.
00:07There's been a real sense of disconnect and even apathy around state politics up here.
00:13People saying that they're too busy getting on with their lives to focus about what's
00:18happening a three and a half hour drive away on Spring Street.
00:21Those who were across what was happening, some were saying that they were surprised
00:26that this was happening so close to a state election.
00:29Others were really sad to see a regional representative and a female representative being taken out
00:38of a role of power.
00:40Others though, we are in a safe liberal seat here in Benambra.
00:44There are a lot of people who do want to see the coalition back in government so other people
00:49that we did speak with were happy to see Jacinta Allen not only booted out but also say that
00:55they hope this is a signal for change in government.
00:59Here's a little of what people were saying on the streets of Wodonga this morning.
01:03It's interesting that four months out from an election they would think that they need
01:08to actually change their leader because I would believe that you sort of go into the election
01:14with who you have so they must really realise that they don't have the numbers and that they
01:20need something different to perhaps get people back on board with them.
01:24I don't know a lot about the gentleman who, I can't remember his name, who was actually
01:29going to take it on but I think there's some big issues in Victoria so perhaps we do need
01:35something different.
01:36Now speaking to my colleague in Bendigo which is of course Jacinta Allen's home seat, she
01:42says the reaction that she's getting from punters on the street there is a lot more fiery.
01:47People are not only happy to have seen her resign as Premier but we are hearing that people on the
01:54streets in Bendigo also do not want to re-elect her as her MP at this state election.
01:59Naren, what are the issues that people are talking about ahead of this election?
02:06Well Victoria is a very urban state, around three in four Victorians live in Melbourne so regional
02:14Victorians have long lamented that they often feel like they miss out when it comes to funding,
02:19when it comes to infrastructure and when it comes to simply having their voices heard.
02:23We did see the emergency services and volunteer levy really inflame some of those tensions and some
02:30of those anger against the Victorian government in the past year or so. Infrastructure is also a
02:36really huge issue here for people in regional Victoria. I'm sure many people who have driven
02:41outside of Melbourne recently have seen the state of the roads, that's a really hot topic,
02:46is funding for simple infrastructure like roads. People are also looking at housing pressure,
02:52wanting to see more land unlocked and there's also talks about supporting regional businesses. A
02:57lot of people on the ground here say it's quite tough to do business in Victoria. A lot of people,
03:03because we're on this Victoria-New South Wales border, we have heard reports from the business
03:07chamber saying it's not uncommon for some of these changes that have rolled in, particularly
03:12talking around the work from home. People are considering moving business across the Murray River into
03:17Albury. So these are some of the issues that will be on voters' minds as they head to the polls
03:22later this year.
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