Show Victoria the money
THE never-ending rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney is normally a subject for lighthearted jest and cheap shots about the weather.
Opinion
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THE never-ending rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney is normally a subject for lighthearted jest and cheap shots about the weather.
But the only thing light-on and cheap in the current debate is the fact Victoria is being seriously short-changed by the Turnbull Government.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull risks being seen south of the border as Sydney-centric while Opposition leader Bill Shorten, a Victorian, has failed to fight for better federal funding in his home state.
It’s no secret federal politicians see western Sydney as a key electoral battleground and pork barrelling in NSW and Queensland is something of a favourite sport.
But the Andrews Government also wears part of the blame by sparking a fractious relationship with Canberra when it burned $1.2 billion on not building the East West Link, in the process snubbing funds offered by the Commonwealth for the project.
Following Wednesday’s Herald Sun front page on the huge disparity in federal infrastructure funding between Sydney and Melbourne, Messrs Turnbull and Shorten were quick to the microphones talking up their support for the Victorian capital.
But cold, hard numbers tell a different story.
The PM’s pledge to allocate $5.4 billion for a second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek — and Mr Shorten’s promise to fund a rail link to it if elected — are just the latest examples of prioritising the harbour city.
While the existing Sydney airport already has a modern and efficient rail link, Melbourne airport is still waiting and only recently have plans been resuscitated with yet another State Government planning study.
On top of Sydney’s new $5.4 billion airport, NSW is slated to be handed another $11.54 billion in federal money for road and rail between 2016 and 2020 — just shy of $17 billion in total.
In Victoria, the Federal Government has agreed to stump up just $3.1 billion over the same period.
While Mr Turnbull says Victoria gets 20 per cent of road funding and is being assisted with the M80 and Western Freeway upgrades, the cavernous difference in wider infrastructure money is not just a Turnbull Government problem.
Federal Labor and Mr Shorten seem to have largely ignored Victoria, no doubt a reflection the ALP already holds government at the state level and the federal election fight here may not be as tight.
Melbourne added an additional 107,000 people last year and leads the nation in population growth.
But as a recipient of Commonwealth infrastructure funding, Victoria trails NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and even South Australia.
And the deficit is no small margin — despite having 25 per cent of the population, Victoria gets about 8.5 per cent of those Commonwealth funds over the coming five years, compared with NSW (32.5 per cent), Qld (31), WA (14) and SA (9).
Given Victoria has a quarter of all taxpayers fuelling Federal Government coffers, it is absurd so much is siphoned to projects in other states, on top of a less than optimum GST share. A 2016 Grattan Institute report, Roads to Riches, found federal infrastructure spending in Victoria had trailed other states since 2006.
It’s said federal elections are won or lost in NSW and Qld. Unless Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison turns back the tide for fair funding in his Budget next Tuesday, Victoria might be added to the list.
PAROLE SECRET NONSENSE
ALL Victorians have a right to know when criminals are released on parole back into the community.
The justice system is based on a cornerstone of transparency — a fundamental need for it to be open to the public to ensure confidence in the administration of the judicial process.
But as reported in yesterday’s Herald Sun, that basic right to know, to access information and assess the workings of our parole system has now been seriously and unnecessarily curtailed.
Changes made to the Corrections Act 1986 in 2013 under the former government must be reviewed immediately. These amendments prevent the Adult Parole Board from responding to legitimate inquiries from the media, or indeed the wider community, when any prisoner is released on parole or denied release.
While victims who register an interest in being informed of an offender’s release will be told of parole outcomes, the catch-all changes prioritise criminals’ “personal or confidential information” and prevents some information being released.
Since the 2013 amendment, parolees silently freed include drug kingpin Mohammed Oueida, Hells Angel Peter “Skitzo” Hewat and killer John Lindrea — but many others whom the community should be aware of.
Perhaps the secrecy provisions were unintended consequences of bad legislative drafting. But secrecy has no sensible basis given trials and sentencing are open. So too should the final chapter of the judicial process. Corrections Minister Gayle Tierney is reviewing the changes and we urge her to scrap the provision.
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