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FRIDAY, January 21, 2022
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Sport
Liberals turn to former commando in the battle for Indi By STEVE KELLY
FORMER Army commando and Wahgunyah resident Ross Lyman was last night officially endorsed as the Liberal Party candidate for Indi for the 2022 federal election. The father of two children will launch his campaign this morning against incumbent independent Helen Haines, Labor's Nadia David, Greens Party man Benjamin Gilbert, with a Nationals candidate still yet to be announced. Mr Lyman served in the Australian Army with postings in Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan in the 1990s and following this, his career has spanned agriculture, manufacturing, operations and logistics - particularly in the wine industry. Agriculture, education, regional development and national security are some of the areas of opportunity Mr Lyman wants to work on if successful at this year's federal election. He grew up around viticulture and currently runs a vineyard in Wahgunyah which he said puts him in a good place to understand the challenges faced in agriculture and business in the electorate. He worked as an executive at Treasury Wine Estates and as a senior executive at McWilliam’s Wines Group in the Riverina. ■ Continued page 3
GOAL DRIVEN: Wahgunyah resident and former Australian Army commando Ross Lyman has joined the Indi race as Liberal candidate for the federal election.
Bouncing back Tourism businesses welcome recent activityy but case numbers still knocking g off cream
SUMMER tourists to the Wangaratta district and the King Valley have hit their highest numbers since the 2018/19 season. With fires cutting visitation numbers and business revenue over the 2019/20 summer, and COVID-19 last year, businesses are trying to compare activity to January 2019, three years ago. La Cantina in the King Valley had a solid Christmas
BY STEVE KELLY skelly@ nemedia.com.au
and New Year period and the number of visitors to the region has only started to ease off this week. Wangaratta La Cantina manager Linda Newton said the last week has slowed down slightly but it’s difficult to com-
pare with the last two years. “If we compare this January with the last good January we’ve had though, we’ve found it getting busier every day,” she said. “In 2019 the Friday to Monday was busy but your midweek specifically was quiet, but now it seems to be busy seven days a week. “Being school holidays there are usually more people still around but
compared to 2019 it doesn’t seem to be as busy as it has been in the past.” Over Christmas and New Year people from Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra visited La Cantina and also nearby residents from Mansfield and Wodonga, along with locals from Wangaratta who were showing the region to their friends and family who live in other areas. “We’ve found that people
are just happy to sit outside and enjoy their wine tasting over a longer period and we’ve had the ‘build your own platter’ on offer where patrons can hang around for longer.” It’s a similar idea that Milawa Cheese has on offer with people choosing to have a picnic on the lawn. The nest of boutique eateries at Milawa allows patrons to stop for a while
and taste some of the produce if passing through or visiting the iconic town as a destination. Milawa Cheese platters and deli meats are a perfect match for the Woodpark wines on offer while visitors soak up the beautifully mild summer days the region has been putting on lately. ■ Continued page 2 ■ Councillor sees need for targeted support - page 2
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