The Member for Mildura, Mr Peter Crisp MP, and the Victorian Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, Hon Louise Asher MP, have today officially announced that there will be a full day public holiday in areas west of the township of Boinka and south of the Murray Sunset National Park within the Rural City of Mildura on Wednesday 5 October for the Pinnaroo Show.
The Pinnaroo Show is one of sixteen local race days and agricultural shows in regional Victoria that are on a firmer footing after the passage through State Parliament in June of the Victorian Coalition Government’s amendments to the Public Holidays Act.
“In 2008, Labor removed regional Councils’ ability to facilitate local arrangements for public holidays,” Ms Asher said.
“Labor’s restrictive, one-size-fits-all approach meant that many local shows and race days, such as the Pinnaroo Show missed out on volunteers, attendances and turnover as regional Councils were forced to recognise only one regional event at the expense of others, or none at all if a Council decided to recognise Melbourne Cup Day.”
“During 2010 Labor put in place a set of one-off administrative arrangements for selected regional Councils solely to get them past the November State Election.”
The new laws now provide the Rural City of Mildura with the opportunity to request either one whole day or two half-day public holidays as a substitute for Melbourne Cup Day. These arrangements can apply to the whole or part of a municipality, and are now written into the Public Holidays Act.
“This implemented election promise came about because of the lobbying of local MPs such as Peter Crisp,” Ms Asher said.
Mr Peter Crisp MP welcomed the announcement and said that it was great news for the local area.
“As well as a means of showcasing local produce, skills and enterprise and providing networking opportunities for many small, farming and family businesses, the gazetted arrangements also mean business owners can actively participate in agricultural and pastoral shows as organisers, committee members, volunteers and attendees,” Mr Crisp said.
Melbourne Cup Day continues to be the automatic default public holiday, which means that all Victorians can continue to enjoy the same number of public holidays each year, regardless of whether they live in regional Victoria or in metropolitan Melbourne.
Councils wishing to request alternative local Melbourne Cup Day holiday arrangements need to write to the Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Businesses with details of their proposed arrangements at least 90 days before Melbourne Cup Day each year.
Information about all Victorian public holidays and regional public holiday arrangements is available online at business.vic.gov.au/publicholidays or by calling 13 22 15.
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