The dangers posed to young children by loose curtain and blind cords and chains are highlighted in a new Consumer Affairs Victoria safety campaign, The Nationals Member for Murray Valley, Ken Jasper, said today.

Mr Jasper said it is tragic that some 15 Australian children have died in strangling incidents related to curtain and blind cords since the early 1990s, with two young Victorian children dying in August and September last year.

This safety campaign plans to raise awareness of the dangers of unsafe curtain and blind cords through the key message: loose curtain and blind cords can strangle children – keep them out of reach so children are out of danger, he said.

The special position of vignerons in the liquor industry has been recognised with changes to licence arrangements, The Nationals Member for Murray Valley, Ken Jasper, said today.

Mr Jasper said vignerons major concerns had been included in the extensive range of representations he had been making to the Minister responsible for the liquor industry, Tony Robinson, in relation to the anomalies and inequities contained within the changes to the liquor licence arrangements.

In addition to the vignerons licence fee, the vignerons had been hit with a fee of $95 for a temporary limited licence to attend a maximum of three markets or special events per year, he said.

The Nationals Member for Murray Valley, Ken Jasper, highlighted the glaring inconsistencies, inequities and injustices in the new liquor licence fee structure in the Victorian Parliament this week.

Speaking in the Parliament, Mr Jasper made the strongest possible representations on behalf of Murray Valley licensees, opposing the new licences, which apply from January 1 2010.

He highlighted the continuing range of inconsistencies and exorbitant fees being charged on a range of licence holders across his electorate of Murray Valley and sought an immediate investigation of the hardship that anomalies in the legislation are creating by the Minister responsible for the liquor industry, Tony Robinson.

The Nationals Member for Murray Valley, Ken Jasper, today called on the Victorian Government to address a concerning decline in Murray Valley’s high school retention rate.

Mr Jasper said new research by the Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition showed the percentage of students remaining at high school until year 12 in the Hume Region had fallen from 69.6 percent in 2002 to 65.2 per cent in 2009.

The Victorian Government must address this slump in retention rates, not only in Hume Region, but across Victoria, as a matter of urgency, Mr Jasper said.