Matt Johnston: Parties’ points of difference count
THE state’s two major parties have more in common than they they’ll admit which makes points of difference vital, writes Matt Johnston.
Opinion
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THE major parties vying for your vote at the state election have more in common than they admit. So when a clear point of difference comes along, it’s often seized with relish. On Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews strode into the marginal seat of Morwell — about 20km from Yallourn’s coal power station — to proudly spruik plans for more renewable energy.
It showed a new-found confidence from Labor on its environmental policy, which at the last election got short shrift. Opposition Leader Matthew Guy reminded Victorians he would dump it if elected, because it was best the federal government administer such targets. Labor argues it is a jobs boost, while Liberals argue it risks price hikes.
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The timing of Labor’s foray into what is effectively a green scheme was pointed, with the Liberals having pulled out of Richmond (held by Labor Planning Minister Richard Wynne), effectively leaving the Greens and ALP to joust. They will run in Brunswick, Northcote and Melbourne but in the those three seats, they may not preference Labor.
Liberal critics say that is a snub to local members, could cost it money by not collecting taxpayer funds for votes secured in the Lower House and could play into the Greens’ hands.
Fans of the never-before-tried strategy say there’s no point in running because the party can’t win those seats anyway and that all they would do is use resources to give Labor a leg-up. On Thursday, both leaders were asked about turf wars, once they were grilled about another issue — China.
Andrews has been under pressure over a secret deal he struck with the Chinese government, backing the regime’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, just before the campaign.
Guy has stuck the boots into Andrews, saying he would reveal the MOU, but on Thursday faced his own questions about Chinese influence, including about a staff member and Box Hill MP Robert Clark attending an event run by a Chinese government-backed entity.
“If you’re trying to make out to me that Robert Clark is some kind of foreign spy, I think that most people would probably view that as some sort of stand-up comedy,” Guy said.
One of Guy’s answers about why he chose not to run a candidate in Richmond also hit some comedic notes. He argued that the Liberal Party couldn’t support a candidate like Labor’s Richard Wynne because Wynne had refused to co-operate with a police investigation. Guy was loosely referring to Labor’s red shirts scandal, which is being probed by police after 21 Labor MPs were found to have rorted taxpayers by hiring electorate office staff and sending them into marginal seats to campaign in 2014. But Wynne wasn’t one of those 21 MPs. He benefited from an electorate office staffer campaigning in his patch, but he didn’t sign off on dodgy pay slips and hasn’t had the cops knocking on his door.
There was another small issue, as multiple journalists pointed out. Ovens Valley Nationals MP Tim McCurdy, supported by the Liberals in their Coalition agreement, has been committed to stand trial on fraud charges. While McCurdy is still waiting on his day in court, the slogan “innocent until proven guilty” doesn’t win many votes.
Liberals are furious that the Nats have stood by their man. It means that every day Guy tries to argue that Labor MPs are under a police cloud, he will be asked about Ovens Valley.
As unfair as it is for a bloke arguing that he’s not guilty, McCurdy should have been asked to step aside, given the timing of his court case.
It would have been a hell of a point of difference for Guy: leading a team without a criminal investigation hanging over anyone’s head.
Matt Johnston is state politics editor
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