Mr Landini and his interested associates will be registering a political party named The Riverina State with the NSW and Australian electoral commissions.
‘‘The reason for this is currently there is a political super-domination of NSW by the people in the metropolitan areas of Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong, and politicians from these cities are making political decisions very detrimental to the people in the Riverina, most obviously with the management of natural resources such as water,’’ he said.
‘‘This political super-domination cannot be countered in NSW. A Riverina State will enable the people in the Riverina to escape this domination and manage the resources and other issues of governance within its area in the way most beneficial to themselves.’’
Mr Landini will hold a meeting in Echuca on Saturday, following public meetings in Barham and Deniliquin in February to discuss problems caused by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, timber harvesting prohibitions and other natural resource restrictions and the ‘‘benefits’’ of forming a separate state west of the Great Dividing Range.
He said a Riverina State would administer the water, timber and all other natural resources within its area.
‘‘This state will ensure that natural resources are used in the manner most beneficial to the people in the Riverina,’’ he said.
‘‘Government by people in the Riverina will ensure that all governance is most beneficial for these people.’’
The former Nationals Deniliquin branch chair said he had a huge amount of support behind him.
“Everyone I talk to wants this,” he said.
The Echuca meeting will be held at the Pastoral Hotel from 3pm to 5pm.
The Riverina is generally the eight electorates west of The Great Dividing Range, including water management infrastructure such as Hume, Burrinjuck and Blowering Dams, and the Murray River.
MORE NEWS
Dalton slams electorate boundary proposal
Cross border exemptions now available online
8°C