Shannon Deery: Weak opposition leaves Dan‘s spin on high speed

As long as Victoria has an opposition hellbent on policy on the run, the political spin that gives the Andrews government the illusion of transparency will only worsen.

It’s hard to know where to start with this week’s column. On one hand there’s the insufferable political spin from the Premier and his office.

On the other there’s the inexplicable policy positions of the opposition.

It all needs calling out.

Because for as long as we have an opposition hellbent on policy on the run, the political spin of the Andrews government will only worsen.

At a press conference last Sunday, the Premier was asked to comment on funding cuts to two critical health programs. The cuts affected programs designed to reduce strain on ambulance crews and emergency departments.

The Premier’s answer masterfully glossed over the reality of the situation. Nothing to see here.

“I’m very pleased to say that Covid is but a fraction of what it was … there were very specific measures put in place for Covid, they were always time limited, I’m very pleased that the time has come where programs, that intense Covid support, that that doesn’t need to be done in that way because Covid is not with us anywhere near as much as it was,” he said.

“So there’s a whole range of different Covid specific programs that do not continue because Covid is but a fraction of what it was, and we’re in a very, very different set of circumstances.”

Daniel Andrews is on a high spin cycle. Picture: David Crosling

A generous interpretation of the answer was that it grossly misrepresented the reality of the situation.

The funding cuts affected both ambulance patient offload teams (APOT) and hospital ambulance liaison officers (HALO). The HALO program dates to at least 2017.

Well before the Covid pandemic, dedicated HALO paramedics were rostered on at hospitals to help deal with an influx of cases.

The funding cuts means dedicated HALO paramedics will no longer be stationed at hospitals, which means our health response has been dialled back about four or five years.

None of that goes anywhere near the fact that the Premier’s Covid comments are completely at odds with his own Ambulance Services Minister. Gabrielle Williams told parliament last month that “the pandemic continues to apply significant pressure on our health system”.

“We have on average 117 Ambulance Victoria staff furloughed each and every day, some 800 across our health system more broadly,” she went on to say.

Watch both ramping and ambulance response times worsen. But who will call it out?

You’d think the health unions may have wanted to, but alas no, it’s not helpful when wanting to negotiate with government. Anyone half proficient at their job knows it’s better to be on side with the powerful.

Gabrielle Williams told parliament last month that ‘the pandemic continues to apply significant pressure on our health system’. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Of course that’s not something that need bother His Majesty’s opposition.

But time and again we’re left wondering just what it is they stand for. Take their policy announcement just days ago calling for a pause on the multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop East and the reprioritisation of money into Melbourne’s long overdue Airport Rail project.

Deputy opposition leader David Southwick said Victoria’s record debt meant the government must prioritise the projects that were needed the most.

“Airport Rail is one-third the cost of SRL East, has funding commitments and will genuinely benefit every Victorian – not just those in one part of Melbourne,” Mr Southwick said.

“Recent infrastructure works and delays have exposed decades of underinvestment in the rail network across Melbourne’s west. These communities deserve a modern rail network and Airport Rail is the place to start.”

Deputy opposition leader David Southwick said Victoria’s record debt meant the government must prioritise the projects that were needed the most. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Huh? This in the middle of a must-win by-election in Warrandyte, a trainless electorate that would have little, if any, regard for airport rail.

Just six months ago the very same opposition was banging on about the fact we couldn’t have both the SRL and a functioning health system.

That SRL must be put on ice, and all available money diverted to the health crisis. The rail loop was a luxury Victoria couldn’t afford, given the state of the health system and projections that debt would soar to $167bn.

The broken health system dominated the state election campaign, with more than $12bn in commitments made between Labor and the Coalition.

The Coalition pledged $7.4bn in health funding announcements, promising to build or upgrade more than 20 hospitals, train or recruit an additional 40,000 nurses and midwives, and slash surgery waiting lists.

By now wanting to use that money to build a railway line instead, is the opposition conceding that the health system is not broken?

Our debt has worsened since the election, with net debt on track to hit a record $171bn by 2026-27 and the health system is still buckling under unprecedented pressure.

Is the opposition’s pitch simply the latest example of problematic policy on the run with scant regard for the future or a cohesive vision?

Without that, the spin cycle that gives the government the illusion of transparency will only endure.

Shannon Deery is state politics editor