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Health | July 06, 2020

Door-to-door sales must stop to keep residents safe: Kealy

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy is urging the Andrews Labor Government to immediately suspend its door-to-door LED lighting replacement scheme amid safety concerns and the illegal dumping of light globes in the region.

Many Lowan residents have contacted Ms Kealy, concerned that door-to-door salespeople purporting to be part of the government’s Victorian Energy Upgrades program are still visiting homes in the region during the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the weekend, residents’ concerns turned to fury when boxes of old light globes were found dumped at the Wimmera River in Dimboola and on a roadside on the outskirts of Nhill.
Ms Kealy has reported the dumping to the Environment Protection Authority.

She said the Andrews Labor Government must now immediately suspend the LED lighting replacement scheme, and door-to-door sales more widely.

“I am absolutely disgusted at the illegal dumping and pollution across our beautiful region. Local people work incredibly hard to look after our part of the world, and for anyone to deliberately disrespect that and dump rubbish is appalling,” she said.

“I applaud and thank our communities for taking a stand on this issue and refusing to tolerate such appalling behaviour.

“The Victorian Energy Upgrades program is meant to support the environment, not destroy it. The Labor Minister responsible for this scheme must immediately investigate this appalling rort of government funding.

“The fact that salespeople involved in this program are allowed to go door-to-door in our region in the first place is baffling and dangerous. Many of the salespeople involved come from metropolitan areas. Why is this allowed to continue when coronavirus cases in Melbourne have surged?”

Ms Kealy said Premier Daniel Andrews must urgently put a stop to door-to-door sales to ensure residents are not faced with any increased risks.

“Our communities have worked incredibly hard to keep coronavirus cases extremely low, and there has not been a confirmed case in our region for a long time; we want to keep it that way,” she said.

Ms Kealy said in the meantime, residents should exercise caution when dealing with any door-to-door salespeople, and never give personal details unless they could verify the salesperson was from a legitimate organisation.

Ms Kealy encouraged people to report littering by calling the EPA on 1300 372 842.