Victorian Acting Premier Ben Carroll and Emergency Services Minister and Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes visited Shepparton on Friday morning.
The pair met with Greater Shepparton City Council representatives and visited the Shepparton Incident Control Centre, where they had a briefing on the flood situation with incident controller Ray Jasper.
In a question from the media, Mr Carroll was asked whether these floods had again raised the need for a second river crossing for Shepparton and Mooroopna.
Mr Carroll said the issue was discussed in a parliamentary inquiry into the 2022 floods.
“The second river crossing has been a pertinent issue,” he said.
“It will be something the government takes up on behalf of the community.
“We won’t stop our advocacy.”
Mr Carroll’s comments come after Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King announced in November that the Federal Government money had been withdrawn for a bypass in Shepparton.
With Shepparton still recovering from the October 2022 flood and many residents still battling with insurance companies over payouts or now being priced out of the insurance market, Ms Symes said the government was looking at ways to help residents who were flooded in the future.
Ms Symes said she had heard over the past 14 months about people who were now having trouble accessing insurance or who had been priced out of insurance because of where they lived.
Ms Symes herself was a Benalla resident in 1993 when flooding hit that town hard and knows first-hand the issues some residents there had with insurance.
She said she and Victoria’s assistant treasurer were looking at ways the government could help people purchase insurance into the future.
This included if people rebuilt their houses to a higher level after floods, they should have the benefit of being insured at a level that took into account the changed conditions.
The government pair said the main reason they came to Shepparton on Friday was to thank emergency services workers for their efforts over the past week.
“We have come to say thanks to emergency first responders and the community who are doing a tremendous job,” Mr Carroll said.
Ms Symes also thanked emergency services workers and paid special tribute to council for its preparation and communication with the community, which she described as “exceptional”.
“It is unfortunate that not long ago, here experienced a major incident (in October 2022),” she said.
“It’s fortunate this incident has not panned out as it could have.”