Labor leader Bill Shorten wimps a CFA burn-off

LABOR leader Bill Shorten’s failure to show his face in marginal seats in Victoria coincides with the firestorm over the union takeover of the CFA, which is threatening his prime ministerial prospects.

Bill Shorten must be baffled by Daniel Andrews’ timing on the CFA deal.

LABOR leader Bill Shorten’s failure to show his face in marginal seats in Victoria coincides with the firestorm over the union takeover of the CFA, which is threatening his prime ministerial prospects.

If Mr Shorten falls short of winning the federal election in less than two weeks, some of the blame should be laid at the feet of Premier Daniel Andrews.

Mr Andrews has turned Mr Shorten’s campaign on its head by sacking the CFA board and forcing the resignations of CFA chief executive Lucinda Nolan and emergency services minister Jane Garrett.

The excuse he offers is that he could not allow the long-running dispute between the Country Fire Authority and the United Firefighters Union to continue.

But it must be baffling and as well as infuriating for Mr Shorten that the Premier has chosen to do this in the final weeks of the federal election campaign. It could cost the Opposition Leader victory in marginal seats in Corangamite, Bendigo, Ballarat, Dunkley, La Trobe and McEwen. Yesterday, he chose to go on a picnic in a park with ABC journalist Annabel Crabb for her Kitchen Cabinet series before flying to Sydney.

A poll of 700 households in Victorian marginal electorates published by the Herald Sun explained why. People were asked whether they supported the Andrews Government’s attempts to unionise CFA volunteers.

Some 65 per cent gave a resounding “no”. The damage the union takeover has done to Mr Shorten in Victorian rural electorates cannot be overestimated.

Mr Andrews does not face an election until 2018, but Mr Shorten will be a focus for voter anger on July 2. Country people are furious at the emasculation of the CFA, which was strongly resisted by the CFA board, Ms Nolan and Ms Garrett. All have lost their positions because of their refusal to bow down to an agreement that the UFU gets veto powers over CFA management decisions. This is unionisation of a revered volunteer organisation and what the Herald Sun believes is the final payment on a deal between the union and Mr Andrews for support during the 2014 election that brought Labor to power.

CFA members protest against the controversial firefighters deal.

Union firefighters in uniform parked their trucks outside polling booths and handed out Labor how-to-vote cards. They also knocked on doors to swing votes to Labor.

Mr Shorten knows that Mr Andrews’s sellout of tens of thousands of CFA volunteers to a hardline union will cost him dearly.

It is why he failed to show his face in rural seats yesterday as he attempted to shift the focus of media questions to his scare campaign over Medicare. His only comment on a campaign disaster for Labor, perpetrated by a Labor Premier, has been to say it is all a state matter and peace will be restored.

It certainly won’t be restored by Mr Andrews or Mr Shorten, but it will be restored by a returned Coalition Government if Mr Turnbull has his way. Mr Turnbull says he will use retrospective legislation to outlaw Mr Andrews’s cave-in to the United Firefighters Union and its boss, Peter Marshall, who is being questioned over the use of union funds.

The Supreme Court has been told that $127,000 in union funds was transferred to former Police Association secretary Paul Mullett to help pay his legal costs in a case against then chief commissioner Christine Nixon.

It was not a loan, the court was told, which begs the question of just what it was. The money is being paid back by Mr Mullett, who worked part-time for the union after being suspended from his Police Association job.

But the question of transparency over the use of members’ funds remains. None of this helps Mr Shorten as he becomes increasingly desperate to swing voters his way on July 2.

The Herald Sun supports CFA volunteers and is giving Victorians an opportunity to declare their support with a free BACK THE CFA sticker available at participating newsagents.

CFA volunteers ask nothing for their selfless devotion to duty. They don’t deserve to have their independence sold out to a union power grab.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews moving at a snail’s pace on Uber.

GET A MOVE ON, DAN

PREMIER Daniel Andrews says there is progress on Uber, but legalising the ride-sharing service is still moving at a snail’s pace.

Mr Andrews says he needs to make sure Victorians will get a safe service, but may not want to be seen getting into bed with the Sex Party, who have put up a private members’ Bill.

More likely are further delays. The Opposition is prepared to support the Sex Party Bill and says it is prepared to show the leadership that Mr Andrews has failed to give.

As reported in today’s Herald Sun, the Sex Party legislation would ban drivers if they were convicted of sex crimes and other serious offences. Heavy fines would apply.

The Government is moving like a cart horse when Uber is showing the taxi industry a clean pair of heels by taking advantage of online technology to provide a service that has captured public imagination.