Pallas, you’re no Stockdale

VICTORIA has a rich history of strong treasurers on both sides of politics; Alan Stockdale and John Brumby among them.

VICTORIA has a rich history of strong treasurers on both sides of politics; Alan Stockdale and John Brumby among them.

Both these political hardmen had the courage to keep their respective leaders in check.

But unfortunately for Victoria, Labor Treasurer Tim Pallas has shown himself to be missing the DNA required to be considered in the same league as a Stockdale or Brumby.

Mr Pallas has spent his almost two years as Treasurer acting as if he is the chief of staff to the Premier, a subservient role he performed in a previous Labor government.

Treasurers are not chiefs of staff. They are gatekeepers. But not Mr Pallas. He has spent his time as our chief bean-counter as the enabler of most of the Premier’s catastrophic policies; from the $1.1 billion ripping up of the East West Link contracts to the dud deal that seeks to hand control of the Country Fire Authority to the United Firefighters Union.

On Wednesday, Mr Pallas increased the pressure on former emergency services minister Jane Garrett by repeating calls for her to go. In doing so, Mr Pallas has backed his boss ahead of the interests of Victorians.

As Treasurer, he knows full well that the real cost of Premier Daniel Andrews’s CFA deal is hundreds of millions of dollars more than what the government admits to publicly.

His first responsibility should be to the Budget and not political expedience. For this, the Treasurer should be ashamed.

Meanwhile, the behaviour of United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall was brought to even greater public attention when former Police Association secretary Paul Mullett lost a $2 million lawsuit on Wednesday against former police chief commissioner Christine Nixon.

The lawsuit was partly paid for through a $127,000 payment to Mr Mullett from United Firefighters Union funds that was to be repaid through deductions from his salary as a part-time employee.

Mr Mullett, who is a long-time associate of Mr Marshall, was not charged any interest and told the Supreme Court the money was not a loan.

The question is, if it wasn’t a loan, what was it? Another question that should be asked by the rank-and-file of the firefighters union is why the union was involved in a case that appears to have nothing to do with the union’s activities.

Mr Mullett faces possible bankruptcy after losing a bid to prove himself the victim of a malicious prosecution by Ms Nixon to oust him from his then role as secretary of the Police Association.

Former emergency services minister Jane Garrett is preparing a formal complaint against Mr Marshall, alleging she was bullied by the union chief.

This has come amid extraordinary claims, vehemently denied by Mr Marshall, alleging threats about firefighters putting an axe in her head.

Ms Garrett resigned as a minister rather than kowtow to the Premier’s demands to sign off on the agreement supported by Mr Marshall and Mr Andrews, who are now frustrated in having the enterprise bargaining agreement ratified because of a Supreme Court injunction taken out by Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria.

Ms Garrett has indicated she will be a witness at a trial this month that will test whether the agreement is legal and has not ruled out making further complaints regarding Mr Marshall’s conduct.

A briefing note written to the Premier by his industrial relations adviser in August last year warned that Mr Marshall’s behaviour had “crossed the line”.

The adviser, John-Paul Blandthorn, suggested Mr Andrews consider asking Mr Marshall to be more respectful to staff and ministers.

But Mr Andrews brushed aside what he called a “memo’’ rather than a “complaint’’, which he denied when it was put to him in parliament.

Ms Garrett’s complaints, however, cannot be set aside so easily.

Labor is turning on itself, engulfed by what is the greatest error of judgment by a premier in Victorian political history.

The turmoil within the party can be judged by the astonishing allegation made by some of its own MPs that Mr Andrews made a deeply hurtful and coarse remark two years ago about a female Liberal MP who was suffering from bowel cancer.

The Premier has vehemently denied this, emotionally declaring it to be “a wicked, shameful lie’’ and “absolutely disgusting” when two months ago he had buried his father, who died from cancer.

MR Andrews heads a government in crisis, with the legislation designed to enshrine the agreement he supports with Mr Marshall likely to be overturned by the Turnbull Government’s proposed amendments to the Fair Work Act.

On Wednesday, when speaking of the legislation he is taking back to the Senate to reintroduce the Australian Building and Construction Commission, Mr Turnbull described Labor as being “a wholly owned subsidiary of militant trade unions”.

The modern Labor Party, said Mr Turnbull, was not the party of Hawke and Keating, nor the party of Neville Wran.

“This is the party of Dan Andrews,” declared Mr Turnbull, who pledged to intervene to save the CFA from union interference during the election campaign.

After the revelations published in this newspaper, few would argue against this description.