SMALL businesses and communities in isolated rural areas are being forgotten by politicians, according to one young man having a red-hot go at running a cafe in Victoria's far west.
Shane Annett has been managing his family's cafe at Casterton for seven years after a joint decision to move from dairy farming into hospitality.
Mr Annett, a 33-year-old single father, studied and worked in rural finance before starting the cafe.
And while the cafe has been well received locally; financially Shane said it had been a tough road.
"The biggest issues for us are the difficulty of sourcing good quality produce and paying the increased freight costs, due to high fuel prices, and getting and retaining skilled staff," he said.
Of the 40 students Mr Annett went to school with, he can think of just seven who have settled in the area.
"Rural population decline is a big worry for me," he said.
"The future of rural areas is largely up to the politicians, they need to provide incentives to attract industry to country areas.
"Big business has to be attracted out here, it is up to the politicians. If there are not any jobs you can't employ people, and people won't want to come here.
"The government seems to have forgotten about us, and it is disappointing because city people do not understand the real value of farmers, who are underpaid."
He said that as young people left the area and older people in search of cheaper housing moved in, the area's population growth stagnated.
