Despite growing tensions within the Nationals party this week, current member for Mallee, Nationals MP Dr Anne Webster backs her coalition government's plan to continue supporting the region.
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Dr Webster has held the Victorian seat of Mallee - the largest Division in the state - since 2019 when she won the National Party preselection replacing retiring MP Andrew Broad.
The former social worker has a multi-pronged approach to delivering for the region in the upcoming election.
"The Mallee area is so large and the interests are so diverse, from agriculture to infrastructure, things are so incredibly varied within the state," she said.
"But there are five key issues that really matter to everyone at the moment, whether in Maryborough, or Mildura.
Dr Webster believes healthcare is among the most important issues for the region, noting that health services are often inaccessible to regional areas.
"Your health should not be determined by your postcode but it often is, these are really complex problems and a silver bullet cannot be found for it"
The MP says while there is no silver bullet for healthcare issues in the region, local training is a key component.
"Whether that's in terms of aged care or nursing, to be able to get people from a young age to engage with an 'earn while you learn' apprenticeship style training is something I'm very focussed on," she said.
Despite aged care centres buckling under the pressure across the region, Dr Webster says she'd committed to supporting the 71 facilities in her electorate.
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"Most facilities are stressed and strained, there's a whole gambit of health care issues around doctors, specialists, nurses and support workers so we really need to boost our workforce," she said.
"There are ways to begin that training process to keep people local - because we know if we can train people local they're more likely to continue working locally."
Roads and infrastructure are also high on the Nationals MP's priority list.
"Our roads are deteriorating at a greater rate because we have so many heavy trucks on them now, so that's a huge issue," Dr Webster said.
The MP argues that more funding is needed for infrastructure in regional areas, noting that often funding is allocated according to population count.
"But the reality is in our smaller towns, infrastructure is still vitally important," she said.
Federal programs that the Nationals MP wants to build upon include the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, the Roads to Recovery Program, and the Building Better Regions Fund.
The Murray Darling Basin Rail project is also of note for Dr Webster.
"I fought for 200 million to go into that project, that work is by no means done, there are additional links and work that needs to be done and connections between towns that haven't."
Finally, the current MP is shifting her focus on technological innovation to support net zero emissions.
"The reality is that energy costs have dropped 9 percent under the coalition, rather than going up 100 percent under labor," she said.
"So as we now work towards net zero, we're looking at technology and investing in industry so that industry can continue to innovate."
At this stage, Dr Webster will take on Independent Sophie Baldwin for the federal seat of Mallee, with other parties yet to announce their candidates.
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