Backroom Baz: Tim Pallas misses Property Council breakfast after housing reform criticism

Treasurer Tim Pallas might still be holding a grudge over his dumped housing tax after skipping a Property Council breakfast.

Someone much wiser than Baz once told him: “Resentment is the feeling we have been wronged by someone else, and holding a grudge is the belief that we will feel better when we have shown the other person how angry we are”.

So Baz reckons there are some members of the Andrews government still carrying pretty heavy grudges two months after they were forced to shelve a major housing reform just days after it was announced.

How else to explain Treasurer Tim Pallas’ refusal to attend the Property Council of Victoria’s post-budget breakfast, the first time he’s missed it since taking charge of the state’s finances.

Tim Pallas was conspicous in his absence from a Property Council post-budget breakfast. Picture: Ian Currie

It was, of course, Property Council chief Danni Hunter who was among the most outspoken opponents to the government’s plan to introduce a new tax that would have raked in $800m a year the government wanted to use to build social housing.

Daniel Andrews publicly accused Hunter of reneging on an agreement, fast-forward two months and Pallas declined the invite to the annual breakfast.

Still, Hunter may have had the last laugh, turning up at a post-budget lunch where she was among a handful of guests to lob a question at the Treasurer.

Dan’s deft hand with a putter

When Dan Andrews fell down stairs and broke his back last year, one of his major concerns was whether he would play golf again.

If his form at the opening of Sandringham’s new Australian Golf Centre Project in Melbourne’s southeast is any guide, the Premier might be back hitting the links more than we think.

Admiring a new practice green that can tilt to different directions so golfers can practise particular breaks, Dan was handed a putter.

The floor was adjusted for a right-to-left uphill slider.

Without messing around, the Premier sent the ball rattling into the back of the cup, several metres away.

The Premier may have been getting some putting tips from golf legend Karrie Webb.

Lobbing bombs on Canberra

There’s been no love lost between the Andrews government and the federal government of late.

But with an election just two weeks away, Team Andrews really upped the ante in the past week. Between Daniel Andrews and Tim Pallas they could hardly go a press conference without lobbing some bombs Canberra’s way.

A whole chapter in the 2022-23 budget papers was even dedicated to bashing the feds, titled: “Victoria’s economic recovery despite insufficient Commonwealth Support”.

But as a proud Victorian, Baz could take no issue with the Treasurer when he told parliament in his budget speech: “The Commonwealth government, whoever they are, must stop short-changing hard-working Victorians and give us our fair share. As the Premier has said, funding Victoria fairly is not foreign aid – this is simply what Victorians are entitled to, as Australians. Our federation won’t function effectively if the Commonwealth disappears in our hour of need and treats Victorians as second-class citizens.”

Hear, hear.

Troops get rev-up for final election push

But while Dan may not be posing up with Albo, that’s not to say he’s not lending a helping hand.

The Premier hit the phones last week to rally the troops in a last-ditch bid to support Labor’s federal push.

Andrews spent two hours on Wednesday ringing “politically engaged” Labor types to give them a rev-up ahead of May 21.

Daniel Andrews hits the phones for the federal election.

Bernie’s mouth a headache for Guy

Can someone please remind Bernie there’s an election this year?

Seriously, mate, your colleagues need you to pipe down, just this once.

Finn is never far from controversy and Baz is told his colleagues have had enough.

Some want him booted from the party, and pressure is mounting on Opposition Leader Matthew Guy to act.

The problem is, whenever things start to look OK for the Libs, Finn fires a rocket that sparks widespread controversy.

Bernie Finn has a knack of drawing attention at the wrong time. Picture: Paul Jeffers

Last week it was inflammatory posts about abortion.

But it’s been everything from dubbing Victoria Police officers “modern incarnation of the Despot’s militia” to posting pro-Trump conspiracy theories.

Sharing a meme about a Chinese rocket falling on the national broadcaster or his political rivals, and mocking people with disabilities have seen the party in the news for all the wrong reasons, too.

Some Libs have dubbed Finn a “protected species”, others want him gone saying as long as he’s around, the party has no hope.

All agree he’s a headache for Guy who must be managed, very carefully.

Watch this space.

Pallas vows to carry on

For some time Baz has been banging on about the expected departure of Tim Pallas from Spring St.

The repeated murmurings from well-placed sources have been that the treasurer wouldn’t hang around to deliver a ninth budget.

Well, Pallas himself has now addressed the rumours vowing to recontest another election. Baz is so very rarely wrong, and he’s not chalking this up as a miss just yet.

There’s still a lot of water to pass under the bridge between now and November.

Guess who

Which Spring St regular partied a bit too hard after the state budget, and decided to hole up in a hotel room rather than making the trek back to the suburbs?